


Hyrule's breath

by marchharex



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Universe, M/M, Multi, Parallel Universes, breath of the wild AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22311526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchharex/pseuds/marchharex
Summary: An anomaly between paths sends Riku and Sora to a new world; Hyrule's breath. Their keyblades being useless against heartless isn't going to be the only surprise, neither their new fairy form. They will have to find a way to free that world from its darkness with their new allies; Sora, Hyrule's prince, and his mysterious knight in the shadows.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 15





	1. May your heart be your guiding key.

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my native language so, please, bear with me (feel free to let me know if I mess up something! that way I can improve). Now, this is kinda a "Canon meets AU/Parallel World" kinda fic. It uses Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the new world, but I'm trying to avoid following the story from it. Yes, it uses the "legend" and will keep the names from tribes/places. The story takes place after KH3D and may have some hints from KH3.
> 
> Slow burn? Slow burn! I hope you like those, because this will be a long ride.
> 
> P.S: Tags will be added as necessary and rating may be changed if needed.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor BotW.

Blue eyes looked around sleepily, looking for something that could keep them distracted. It had been only mere hours since the triumph of one and the fiasco of the other, the bittersweet taste of the moment still  present on his palate. Why did he have to give in to the dark in such an important moment? Why, after everything he has been through, he had to fail so miserably and make his best friend go after him? Not only that, but he also had to lose much of his strength so he would have to wait time –long time– before he could try to gain his  keyblade master title. _ Again _ .

Sora’s gaze fell on Riku, who was focused driving the gummi ship; it was the one the King and Riku used so, of course, the  silverette was the one allowed to drive it from them. The brunet groaned as he dropped the weight of his body fall on his seat, calling his childhood’s friend attention.

“Are you okay?” The older teen asked, taking his eyes away from the big screen to look at his friend.

“Yeah, I’m just bored” Sora answered, folding his arms over his chest. That answer made Riku chuckle after returning his attention to his front.

After celebrating Riku’s triumph –and Sora shoved all the chocolate cake down his throat to erase any trace of sadness for his failure– at Yen Sid’s tower, Mickey decided to throw some bad news. Him and Riku, since they were a team, had to leave to investigate an anomaly that appeared on one of the paths between worlds. In a rush, Sora demanded to go with the  silverette instead of the king to everyone’s surprise. Donald complained for how rude of him was to leave _ your Highness _ out of his own plan and to don’t count with him and Goofy. The three of them made a full pin, right? It was just logical that if Sora decided to go, they  _ had _ to go too. But the  keyblade bearer refused for once with a smile, excusing himself that it seemed a mission easy enough for just Riku and him. Also, he needed to get strong again and being with the new  keyblade master could be an easy way to do so.

He wasn’t going to admit that he wanted to spend some time with his friend alone outside of any danger, and while he had loved to have  Kairi with them too, the redhead had her own plans. They barely had any time to spend together since the darkness decided to gobble Destiny Islands with a storm, so any little excuse was good enough for him. 

Despite Donald’s complains, Mickey’s doubts and  Goofy’s worries, Yen Sid allowed the both of them together to investigate what seemed to bring closer and closer some worlds.

“How much is left to arrive?” Sora asked after triumphantly remembering why they were there alone.

“We shouldn’t be far. That’s Halloween Town, and Mickey said it was between this world and Neverland.”

“Hey!” The brunet stood up, taking a couple steps to stand next to his friend’s seat and watch properly at the big screen. “Once we are done investigating, we could stop on Halloween Town. I want you to meet so-”

His words were cut out as the gumi ship began to shake. Silver eyebrows furrowed while the older teen tried to steady the ship without much success. A red light began to illuminate the small cabin and an annoying alarm began to sound. It didn't take long before Riku lost all control between all kind of curses. Sora tried to hold tight to his friend’s seat, but the shakes were so strong that he lost his balance and ended up on the floor, yelping as soon as his head hit the hard surface.

“Sora! Go si- Shit!”

Aquamarine eyes opened wide in horror, his skin getting even more pale the moment the older teen found out what was the problem. The anomaly Mickey talked about wasn’t any joke.

“Riku! Sora! What’s going on?!” The King’s voice could be heard from one of the small intercoms. “I’m with Chi---le, and all the ala---- ku ! Riku! Can you he-----!” The voice was interrupted every now and then by a buzz, till some sparks made it clear the intercom, or even part of the inner ship, just exploded. That, if the smoke coming from every corner wasn’t a hint of it.

The  silveret stood up despite the strong shaking and helped his friend stand on his feet, but when was the moment to help the brunet go sit on his seat Sora screamed out. His blue eyes could see that thing staring at them, staring at  _ him _ .

“What the hell is that?!” Sora’s voice was barely audible due the annoying alarm. He refused to go sit to Riku’s frustration.

“Sora! Go sit down and put on your belt! It is dangerous to stand he-” His words cut out when the teen felt like losing his balance.

In front of the gumi ship a huge black hole, almost as big as Halloween Town, was slowly welcoming them. It was sucking everything, every single star, every world close enough to it... But that wasn’t the worse part, but the even bigger heartless coming out of it. Its long, sharp claws danced around trying to hold anything that was getting close enough, fangs poked out of his wide-open mouth and it was easy to see it had more than one line of teeth. It looked like it was throwing up darkness, even its blood-infused eyes. A tongue even longer than its arms, playfully mocking its victims as if it could taste them from the distance. But... It was just part of it! It looked like there was even more at the other side of the portal.

“We have to kill it!” Sora exclaimed, quickly holding his keyblade.

“That’s true, but we need to go to safety first. I’ll try to land on Halloween Town, there we will call the others and see what we ca-” And, again, he was unable to finish his words.

Riku was trying to keep calm despite the scene they were in, he knew Sora was already a sack of nerves by the way his body was trembling and, also, that one of them had to keep in control. Another shake sending both  teen out of balance, making the only  keyblade present vanish. This time, however, Riku lost it completely while trying to push Sora to the safety of his seat. What he wasn’t expecting is to hit his head so hard against the  controlers that lost consciousness. The brunet couldn’t do anything else but to panic. He ran awkwardly to the older teen, dropped on his knees and hold the pale body between his arms, screaming his name hoping he would wake up soon. The alarm and the red light only increased his despair; he couldn’t think properly, he wasn’t strong enough to throw himself against that giant heartless alone... That would be their end.

_ Would they have lived a longer life if the keyblade did not exist? _

His keyblade appeared on his hand with a bright, almost blinding, sparkle. A ray of light made its way from the end of the key to the black hole. The heartless screamed in pain and, twisting, made its way back inside the portal. 

But it was too late for them.

The  gumi ship was slowly pulled toward the big hole. It didn’t take long before all the metal, and even the two teens, began to deform in a tortuous way as the ship approached the gravitational area. Sora could feel as if a thousand blades were stuck in his body, as if every single bone of his body was breaking until the pain was unbearable and everything around him just started to disappear in a black blur. Still, he refused to let go his  his unconscious friend on an attempt to protect him of whatever was their fate. It was their end. It was a very stupid way to end their story.

“Chip! Dale! Prepare the other ship. We are going to find what’s going on.” Mickey ordered as soon as the communication was cut out.

He couldn’t believe he allowed Riku and Sora to go alone. Yeah, sure, Yen Sid made it clear it was a simple mission even a child could do; go, see what’s going on and get back. But, clearly, something went wrong between that ‘go and get back’. Of course, Mickey trusted the teens’ skills, and knew they could handle any danger, but everyone had their limits on what they can, or can’t, handle alone.

“Your majesty...?” Donald asked, worry on his face.

"I should have gone with them.” The King whispered to himself, looking at the ceiling.

“Your majesty! Good news! GOOD NEWS!” squeaked one of the squirrels a couple of minutes after, jumping up and down with excitement.

“Whatever Sora and Riku did, the anomaly  is gone! Everything is back to normal on our radar!” continued the other squirrel. “However, the  gummi ship is missing. We sent the last location to the other ship. It should be ready in no time.”

After a quick salute both squirrels ran away to continue with the preparations. Mickey allowed himself to sigh with relief, it meant Riku and Sora were alright, right? Maybe the  gummi ship needed some reparations, but maybe the crew was just fine in one of the closest worlds, waiting for someone to go find them. Seeing Mickey’s lips curling in a soft smile, Donald felt himself relax.

“...ra!”

_ Ugh. _

“Sora! Wake up!” That squeaky, unfamiliar voice sounded full of worry. “Oh, c’mon! Sora, please...”

“Five more minutes, mom...”

Wait-

“What?!” Sora sat up placing both hands over his neck, trying to feel what was wrong. However, his actions were so fast that they made his whole body shake in pain. He could still feel the thousands of nonexistent needles stuck in his body, piercing more in his skin with each movement.  The pain could be seen reflected on his face.

“What’s going on?” the brunet asked, blushing at his weird new voice. His voice was even squeaker than the one that woke him up. It was like he just turned into a squirrel, as if he had breathed helium. Brown brows furrowed as he turned around to glare at whoever was laughing at him; to his surprise, it was Riku. As if the glare actually worked, Riku yelped while raising one hand to his head.

"I guess we landed on a new world” the older teen finally answered, rubbing the bump from when he hit the controllers. It was time for Sora to burst out laughing at his friend’s voice. Both voices were very ridiculous! “Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want, but at least my wings aren’t pink” the older boy teased with a smirk.

Wings? The brunet stopped laughing almost instantly. At Sora’s confused expression from behind the  silverette a pair of white, fairy-like, wings spread. The younger of the two looked quickly behind him, realizing that he also had his own wings. They were just like Riku’s, but a soft pastel blue. Not pink, at least.

“You liar!” Sora complained, making the older laugh.

“It would have been cute, tho.”

“So, what are we exactly? Our clothes are the same a- Oh! You have pointy ears! Wait, wait- the ship looks huge! Did we get small?!” Was it excitement in Sora’s voice or worry?

“I’m unsure. Fairies, maybe?”

The silence fell between them as the brunet looked around. The gummi ship was almost irreparable, it was a surprise that they had survived. There was a small red spot where Riku had fallen before, indicating that the older teen had been bleeding. There was a bigger red spot, however, over the controllers; Sora probably hit himself there. But, now that it clicked on Sora, he realized none of them had injuries and no one would say they had been in an accident if wasn’t for the ship’s state and the blood around.

“How did we...” The younger boy began, but didn’t dare to continue.

“I don’t know. When I woke up, we were against the controllers, you over me with your head on that little puddle.” Riku explained, confirming that Sora did, indeed, hit himself pretty hard. That didn’t explain, however, why none of them had injuries. “The blood on my bump was dry, but I couldn’t feel anything else. Well, other than as if I have been crushed for hours.”

Sora stopped listening at him at some point, feeling a tingling in his stomach while trying to contain his laughter. The older teen began to shine in a pure silver color as his wings flapped, flying slightly to rise up to a small hole that had appeared when the ship's metal bent at the crash. He even had little sparkles following him! The brunet found himself hypnotized.

“We should try to find a way to let Mickey and the others know where are we” Riku talked, unaware that his friend’s mind wasn’t with him.

Blue eyes closed tightly as the owner shook his head, returning his attention to the situation. He tried to flap his wings and follow Riku, but it looked like his new body parts refused to work properly. 

“ _ Think of beautiful things! And you will fly, you will fly, you will fly!” _

That’s right. That’s how he managed to fly on Neverland. Following the memory of Peter Pan’s words, Sora closed his eyes and focused. Everything around them was silent so it was easy to focus on happy thoughts, even when the soft sound of a pair of wings flapping –probably Riku’s– broke said silence. “ _ You can do it, Sora _ ” the brunet thought before trying to find the best thoughts in his mind. Back then the mere thought of Kairi was enough for him to fly but, this time, it wasn’t as beautiful as it used to be or it wasn’t the way to fly there.

“You can do it, Sora” the silverette voice broke the silence.

Sora’s wings moved as soon as the older boy spoke, but instead of making the brunet happy it made him confused. Himself, just like the older, was sparkling too, just his light was blue instead. He just thought of Riku since the other’s voice just filled his mind. Was now Riku’s thoughts stronger than Kairi’s? Blinking in confusion he didn’t realize that he was flapping his wings probably too fast, only doing so when hitting the ceiling of the ship. While Riku’s laugh and Sora’s complains flooded the air, both were cut by a shout coming from outside. 

The silverette pointed a hole big enough for them both to fit and, followed by a clumsy Sora, left the  gumi ship to find the source of the screams. Not too far from the crashed ship there was a figure running from two heartless, screaming and imploring for someone to help him. The figure was wearing pure white garments with golden ornaments; flat golden shoes, puffy pants with golden belts and a really small top covering only his chest and arms, complemented with a cloak- ish that was falling from the edge of the top, as if was part of it.  Keyblade master and bearer summoned their weapons, flying as fast as their wings allowed them ready to help the boy. The brown spiky hair of the guy running, the caramel tan skin, those blue watery eyes... He was really, really familiar to Sora, but it was even more for Riku who just stopped abruptly once realizing who the other guy looked like. It was like a replica of Sora.

“Help!” Sora’s copy screamed, yelping once stumbling over a small stone along the way.

Riku shook his head; it wasn’t the moment nor the place to freeze in place. He followed Sora, who was already attacking one of the small heartless. With how many times he hit it, being the weakest kind of heartless, it should be dead by the time Riku got to him, but it was like the  keyblade was just tickling it.

“I’m not that weak, gosh!” Sora was frustrated, more when he saw how Riku’s attack were just as weak as his. Maybe it had to do with their size? Did their keyblades became useless keys?! While keymaster and bearer got one of the heartless’ attention, the other kept running to its victim; it jumped with its claws ready to hole the boy’s chest and look for the pure and sweet light of his heart before Riku and Sora’s horrified eyes, but suddenly it became a ball of dark smoke, freeing any heart it had with it as the darkness vanished. It just took a couple of seconds before the other heartless followed the same fate.

“What- What happened?” questioned Sora, unable to understand what had happened.

Unable to answer, Riku looked around expecting to find Mickey and his loyal men, but he only found a black figure disappearing over a cliff. Silver brows furrowed, following the black figure. Despite moving his wings as fast as he could, for any humanoid Riku was moving in a really slow peace. So, of course, by the time he reached the place where the black figure has been there was already no one to be seen.

“Wah... Are you two children of the forest?!” Sora’s copy asked on a cheerful tone.

Both Riku and Sora looked at the humanoid, confused at his question. Riku wanted to ask if he was another replica, but due past experiences didn’t dare to ask.

“Children... of the forest?” Riku asked as soon as he reached back next to his best friend, tilting his head.

“I guess you aren’t if you don’t know what I’m talking about” the copy chuckled.

Now that he looked more closely there were a couple differences between that copy and Sora, one of them being the obvious long strands and those beautiful, hypnotizing little stars on his blue eyes. A couple of seconds later Sora yelped, pointing at his copy while screaming incoherent stuff.

“You look just like me! Are you a replica from the Organization?!”

“You can be so slow sometimes...” Riku sighed with exasperation.

“Re... plica?” The copy couldn’t help but chuckle once again, placing his hands flat to let both fairies rest on them. While Riku didn’t move, Sora sat with his legs crossed over the other’s palm. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Actually, we didn’t.” The silverette said, pointing to one of the arrows stuck in the ground.

Sora’s copy looked at it with his eyebrows frowned, but quickly sighed and relaxed his expression.

“They did it again.” The copy whispered.

“Who?” Sora asked.

“I don’t know. Since I left the castle whenever one of those things tries to attack me, it’s like someone appears and saves me, but before I can even thank them, they aren’t there anymore.”

At least that answered if the black figure was an enemy or an ally.

“Lived.” The other answered with a sad expression. “The castle was attacked and destroyed by a huge black monster. Since then, those small creatures appeared. It’s almost like the legend said...”

“What legend?” Was Riku’s turn to ask, even if he had other more important questions.

“When the blood moon rises, dark  Nogan will raise to destroy the world. Only the pure princess and the chosen one, her knight, and the four champions will have the power to destroy him.” There was a pause. “The few that survived the attack says the monster that attacked us is dark  Nogan since it appeared when the moon was red and... It had like a heart shape. But I’m no princess, nor I have a knight...”

Sora and Riku exchanged looks as they both tried to understand what was going on. For the description the guy gave, the apparition of that monster –probably a heartless– had to do with Kingdom Hearts. The question was why.

“I’m trying to go to the Great Forest of Hyrule, would you like to come with me? I would feel safer if I don’t go alone!” The copy said. “Oh, by the way, I’m Sora! Hyrule’s prince. And you two?”

Sora.

So, not only Riku had a replica, but also Sora now? That was the only answer Riku could find to all this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyrule's Breath Sora: https://marchharex.tumblr.com/post/190438966791/sora-from-hyrules-breath  
> Nogan's design: https://marchharex.tumblr.com/post/190438975371/nogan-the-main-big-heartless-boss-from-hyrules


	2. Prince of nothing.

Silence had fallen between the three young men, a silence more than uncomfortable. The humanoid kept his head tilted to the side, smiling on an attempt to make the situation more comfortable since he was unable to understand what was so wrong with his name. Or himself, for that matter. Sora didn’t know what to say, neither did Riku. Both fairies looked at the tan boy, both waiting for the other to break the silence. After a few minutes of silence only broken by the bird’s chirping, Riku gently pushed his friend with one hand towards the humanoid, inviting him to talk first.

“A-ah... Yeah. Ahem.” The  keyblade bearer looked at his friend with pleading eyes, but Riku averted his gaze to look at the humanoid. After a long sigh escaped his lips, Sora realized that the  silverette wasn’t going to say a thing. “I’m Sora, and this is my friend, Riku.”

“Ri-... ku ...” The prince’s eyes seemed to lose all his light as the little stars vanished for a few seconds and his lips lined up. It was as if his soul escaped between his lips at the mention of that name. However, he quickly recovered and the bright smile was back on his face. “Nice to meet you two! So, if you aren’t children of the forest, what are you two?”

“Fairies” was the quick answer from Riku.

“Really...? I’ve never seen fairies like you.” The prince moved his hands to approach them to his face, looking at the other two more closely since they were resting on his palms. “You have  hylian’s bodies, the ones I always see are like little puffy balls with big wings.” The young boy chuckled.

“ _ Hy- _ _ Hyrian _ ?  _ Hydan _ ?” Sora, the fairy, squinted, trying to pronounce the word properly.

“Hylian” The boy repeated. “That’s what I am.”

That explained why he also had pointy ears instead of the common human ones. Riku titled his head to the side as his mind tried to make up an excuse or an answer to why they looked different from the other fairies. Although he had a question, and was why they shifted forms on a world where humanoids existed. Then it clicked to him; maybe that other Sora wasn’t a replica. Maybe, just maybe, it was just another version of him and that’s why he was unable to keep his own form –to don’t confuse and endanger the balance of the worlds-.  Or worse, maybe he was the real Sora’s nobody?! He was taken out of his thoughts when hearing his friend speak again.

“We are a special kind of fairies! Unique and rare ones. We exist to destroy the heartless!” The tan fairy said, nodding at his own words. He was proud of his excuse, even if it made no sense considering how they were unable to kill a single heartless.

“Right... the creatures that attacked me. Then more reasons to come with me! It seems I attract them; wherever I go, they are there.” Both fairies exchanged looks before looking at the prince, both nodding at the same time. “Great!”

As the  hylian stood up, Riku flapped his wings to fly along him while the original Sora, in Riku’s eyes, just decided to take a sit over the prince’s head, using the brown spikes to keep him in place whenever the other moved his head suddenly. 

The  silverette tried to keep the same pace as the prince, but due his tiny size it was very difficult to him. Both Sora were talking or, better said, the fairy was asking while the other was answering cheerfully. They learned about the world, the places and its tribes. There were names none of the fairies could pronounce nor remember, but that didn’t seem to bother them. After all, they would leave as soon as they were able too.

The warm weather made Riku tired sooner than he thought and decided to just take a sit next to his friend, apologizing to the prince who just chuckled. Since he didn’t have to fly anymore, he decided to keep himself distracted looking around; they were on a colorful forest, or at least it looked like that by all the trees, bushes and flowers around. The path they were following looked like it was made by humans – hylians – walking over and over until the soil was dead and unable to germinate more grass. It didn’t look like someone took the time to connect towns or whatever kind of places the civilization on that world lived. Every now and then they would see a wild animal crossing their path or run away from them, even those that looked dangerous. Seeing as how the other two Sora kept talking, this time about a tribe that lived surrounded by water, Riku kept his attention around them; alert to any danger.

It took him a few minutes –maybe even longer– to realize that there was someone following them. Silver brows furrowed as he turned around, looking everywhere. Since he couldn’t see anything, he thought it could be just his imagination but then a black figure jumped from one tree to another, and another. Was that the same person? Whoever it was, it seemed as if they retreated as soon as they realized they were noticed.

Or maybe...

A scream from the humanoid brought Riku back to reality, just in time to flap his wings as the prince moved his head abruptly. He looked around to find that some heartless were surrounding them, hungry for their light. The  hylian took a step back, his body shaking slightly in fear. He wasn’t trained to fight, neither he had to since he was always surrounded by the royal family’s guards. But they were all dead, or so Sora thought. Even if all the heartless around them were still the weakest kind, they were too many for the two little fairies. Still, that didn’t stop them to flap their wings with their keyblades ready, attacking the black creatures with no result. Riku kept hitting one of the shadows with his weapon, hearing how his friend was yelling to another of the creatures.

“That’s useless!” The  silverette screamed, smacking once again the shadow who just titled its head.

Sora the fairy flew away from the shadow he was attacking and pointed his  keyblade to it. His lips quickly moved and a ball of fire seemed to appear on his weapon, however, as soon as it was launched towards its enemy the ball comically fell to the ground, vanishing. On another moment the brunet would have laughed at how stupid that looked, but this time his brows were furrowed in annoyance. What kind of  _ special fairies that exists to destroy the heartless _ they were? Remembering how his friend lost big part of his strength after the exam, Riku imitated him just to have the exact same result.

“We should retread” Riku said, placing himself back to back with his childhood friend.

“But how? We are surrounded by them!” With a worried look he looked at the other Sora, who was still shaking in fear. They could easily fly away from them, but the humanoid clearly was unable to do so. 

As if his question had been heard by a divine being, the whinny and fast jogging of a horse could be heard before some of the heartless were sent flying, fading into a ball of dark smoke. The majestic black animal rose on its two hind legs, whinnying one last time before crushing another shadow with its two front legs. There was just one shadow missing, but an arrow took it down before the animal retreated.

“Again...?” Riku whispered, looking how a black figure jumped over the animal once it was far enough. Getting away.

“Wait! WAIT!” The prince reacted, trying to run after the animal. “Who are you?! Why do you keep saving me?!”

“I can't be the only one who thinks that is suspicious” The tan fairy whispered once he got closer to Riku, frowning. The silverette only shook his head in response.

It didn’t take long before the  hylian gave up on his chase and decided to come back with the fairies, his breathing accelerated due to his recent race. He dropped himself to his knees, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Sora...? Are you okay?” The tan fairy asked, slowly flying to him.

The heartbreaking scream that the prince let out scared the two fairies, who quickly made their way to be close to other’s face. Tears quickly made their way down his rosy cheeks while he kept stuttering inconsistencies. He was feeling a strange mixture of feelings; afraid of what could happen to him with those creatures, confused by the mysterious person that kept saving him, he was feeling just so useless and alone since he wasn’t surrounded by the warmth of his family... Embracing himself he was now silent, letting his head drop forward on an attempt to hide from the world. Everything just happened so fast, he had no time to mourn the  lose .

He could hear the other two talking on their squeaky voices but couldn’t understand what were they saying. It wasn’t until he felt a tiny hand placed over his now hot cheek that he opened his eyes that he didn’t know he closed.

“We can rest if you need to. Riku went to see how far the bridge you mentioned is and if it’s safe to go, so just relax.” The  hylian looked up enough to see the fairy that looked just like him smiling  reassuringly at him.

“How... am I supposed to help my people if everyone is dead?” The prince asked as he slowly made his way to rest against a tree. Hugging his legs against his chest and hiding his face between them, he curled up into a trembling ball while his mind seemed to leave his body to remember what happened tortuously.

The day had passed as usual, a routine that at first seemed annoying but to which he had succumbed over time; the prince would spend most of the day with his nose on a book, pretending to read until the old lady got his attention back to the pages with a scream. It didn’t matter how beautiful the day was outside, as a prince he had his duties. Before dinner the brunet would look through a window how some kids were running around while screaming and laughing, until the king made his presence obvious to the teen. His father would give him the talk of how he had to study and learn properly how to rule the kingdom, he would lie and tell him how the villagers called him the future king of nothing due to his clumsiness and weakness. At first, Sora would look upset with his father and as soon as the older vanished through one of the big wooden doors his expression would turn into a sad one.

While dinner normally passed silently, on that occasion something dramatically changed that damn routine. Sora nearly chocked on the vegetable he was chewing when cries of agony were present outside the castle and the guards began to run through the halls, the senior officers giving instructions.

“Sora, dear, come with me” the calm voice of the queen suggested after patting softly her son’s back. As soon as the  hylian recovered he looked up at her mother. She was just a couple centimeters taller than him and her always calm expression, even in the bad moments, managed to keep the prince from having a panic attack. Her brown hair was long past to her waist, the golden tiara on her forehead almost hidden with her bangs. Blue eyes were looking at him with worry as a tan, soft hand removed a strand from the prince’s face and carefully placed it behind his ear. “Remember, stay calm” were her last words before quickly turning around and, without even looking at her husband, she held one of her son’s hand while with the other pulled the skirt from her plain, long dress up enough to run away.

Both mother and son had been running through secret passages between the walls, hearing screams from the soldiers, swords fall on the stone floor, furniture breaking, windows shattering into pieces... Sora’s mother turned around every now and then to make sure he was as calm as possible despite the nightmare they could hear. He was taught that if the castle was ever in danger, he had to keep calm while running to safety; if in panic, he would trip over everything, he could shake in fear or even freeze in place making him the best target for the enemy. He wondered why he wasn’t taught to fight and be brave like his father, who was –or should be– fighting alongside the guards to defend those walls of whatever was attacking them. That was a question that it didn’t mind how many times it was asked; never was answered. Sora gave up after thinking his father just saw him too weak or useless to fight.

They spent long minutes running through narrow and cold stone passageways. Every time his nude skin would touch the wall it sent him shivers through his spine. The more they ran, the colder the environment became. Soon their breath turned foggy, forcing them to let go their hands to hug themselves on an attempt to keep warm. After a last turn, the woman carefully pushed one of the walls enough to see what was happening on the other side; nothing. With slow steps pushed the wall a bit more so both of them could leave the passageway and as soon as they were in the new room, she pushed back the wall to close the entrance. They were now on the throne room. It was huge, stone walls and floor wherever you looked. There was a long red carpet with golden border that went from the big doors to the three thrones, but there was another big circular one right in the middle of the room. Large golden chandeliers fell easily from the ceiling and small oil lamps hung on the walls, between the huge and colorful windows. Close to the walls, there were small figures that looked like angels praying, while there was a big one –almost as tall as the room was– from their goddess right behind the thrones. Only two big pictures gave some more color to the room, and one of those was the secret entrance.

“It’s freezing...” Sora said as he caressed his arms, trying to warm himself a bit faster. Why was so cold all of a sudden? And why the chandeliers weren’t light like always? As soon as his lips parted to say something else the door slammed open, pushed by a black stampede. The dark river of creatures made its way to the very center of the room, where it just crashed while some black creatures were sent flying from the hit. Hundreds of creatures appeared, slowly trapping the queen and the prince on a circle. Some of those things were jumping on their place, while others just kept moving excitedly without taking away their golden eyes from their victims. One of those shadows jumped towards them, but another stopped it. For long, tortuous seconds, the creatures fought each other as if they were trying to see who would take their victims. Sora couldn’t take it anymore and, with tears already wetting his cheeks, he shouted in panic. It seems that cry made the creatures react and instead of fight each other they fused into a large, giant black twister with the big open already pointing the two  hylians . Sora closed tight his eyes as he clung to his mother, who hugged him back in a protective way as they waited for their fate.

One that never came.

The creatures chirped making Sora open his eyes to see what happened, only seeing a black figure in front of them with two swords on his hands. One of the swords had a white aura while the other had a black one. The brunet took only a couple seconds to check their savior, realizing the person was wearing a tight outfit that covered their entire body. The  swordman looked over their shoulder, showing that in fact everything but their eyes  were covered. The savior quickly looked back at the creatures and, without any doubt, jumped towards the black twister that began to form again. Their movements were fast and careful, as if they were trained just to fight. The creatures were taken down in groups; with every turn, with each jump, with any movement at all, more of those shadows were slain. However, no matter how many disappeared, more and more appeared.

“SORA!” the queen screamed, pushing her son away. While the black figure seemed to be occupied, a new twister formed and made its way to the two helpless  hylian .

The brunet yelped as he hit the ground, but as soon as he tried to stand on his feet again his whole body froze; the twister swallowed his mother in front of him, making her scream in pain until a small heart shaped floated and vanished through the cold stone ceiling. 

“RUN!” The savior cried out without even bothering to look at the other.

With a heartbreaking scream and with the blurry look from the tears that gathered in his eyes Sora started running. 

“It will be dark  soon, we should continue moving forward soon” a squeaky voice returned Sora to reality. Blinking the tears away the brunet incorporated his head, disorientated. “Are you feeling better?” The two fairies were looking at him with worried expressions.

“Yeah, I’m fine now” The prince lied, standing up.

“Cool! Riku said the bridge is not far, so we should be close”

The prince only nodded as he allowed the other two to sit again on his head. The rest of the way to the bridge that connected the island where the great forest was and the rest of Hyrule was silent on the prince’s part. The two fairies were discussing about why their weapons seemed so useless now and tried to think in another way to fight the heartless. 

They fell silent as soon as they realized how, with each step they were taking over the bridge, everything around them was getting darker. The prince even took a couple of steps backward, making everything go brighter again. It was as if that bridge was a path to the darkness itself. At the other side they were welcomed by a big stone arch with two torches illuminating the entrance. A thick fog surrounded the island completely, and it was hard to see what was beyond the arch besides another torch.

“Here we go” the prince said, not even thinking about it twice.

“Wait, what?!” The tan fairy pulled the brown spikes on an attempt to make the humanoid stop, with no success since they were already at the other side of the arch. “I can’t see anything...”

The brunet humanoid swallowed a lump in the throat that he didn’t knew it was there. The great tree was at the other side of the island, so they only had to go straight. Simple. Then why his legs were shaking? Shrill laughter began to resonate around the forest.

“ _ The prince of nothing is here~ The prince of nothing is here~ _ ” a childish voice began the mockery.

“ _ Should we tell the chief or should we play with him? _ ”

“ _ With them! He isn’t alone! _ ”

“ _ You mean those stupid balls? Remember the last time we tried to play with fairies, they are too stupid! _ ”

“Who are you calling stupid?!” The tan fairy raised his fist, offended.

“ _ If they find their way, we will tell the chief! _ ”

“ _ What if they don’t? _ ”

There was no answer, but the laughs got a cold sweat down Riku's back. Brown brows furrowed as the prince began to walk forward. Sadly, he didn't make much progress before the fog swallowed them completely.

When the prince opened his eyes, he was running through the halls of the castle without even looking backwards. A loud growl made the walls and floor tremble, he could even hear how some parts were collapsing. “This is just a nightmare; you will wake up soon!” The brunet kept saying. Once he found himself outside the building, he realized the sky was blood red and the moon had a weird heart shape.

“Majesty!” One of the guards called him.

Some of the guards were still fighting creatures while others were running away for their life.

“Sora!” The brunet turned around but didn’t even see who was calling him before a pair of strong arms pulled him into a hug. “Where is your mother?” The man asked. The brunet looked up at his father; green eyes with little stars in them were looking at him. The lack of any response from the teen and the way his body was shaking gave away where, or how, his mother was. Brown brows furrowed before the king dropped his head until brown bangs covered his eyes. “It’s okay... It’s okay...” No, it wasn’t.

“We should run,  _ Your highness _ ! The more we kill, the more appear” one of the soldiers made his way to the king, sword on hand.

“Sora, listen to me.” A new growl made the floor shake under them. “Go to the Great Forest of Hyrule and talk to the Great Tree. He will tell you what to do” the man said with both hands over the teen’s shoulders.

Without any other word the king pushed his son to the guard. Didn’t need to give the man any instruction before the guard pulled the prince away. Sora was yelling and struggling to get free, he wanted to go back to his father and pull him along with them. A new growl. This time, a huge black figure made its appearance through the castle, destroying anything on its way. 

“FA-!” was all Sora managed to say before seeing how his own father was attacked by many of the creatures and disappeared just like his mother did.

_ Goddess, please, what are your plans for me? I’m useless! How do you expect me to follow your will all alone? _

As soon as those words crossed his mind a new thunder lightning lit up the bloody sky, this time accompanied by a –too– loud thunder. The prince looked up as he allowed himself to be dragged, seeing how a huge ball of fire fell from the sky. He was expecting to see a few drops fall like with any storm, not the sky breaking and falling on them.

“ _ I’m Sora! And this is my friend Riku! _ ”

His eyes suddenly opened, finding himself back to the forest. He was laying down in the middle of the path with the  silverette fairy sitting on his chest, his legs and arms crossed. The fairy would shake his head and then laugh at something before a whimper from the prince made him look over his shoulder.

“Hey, you are awake. Are you okay?” Riku asked, flapping his wings to raise himself and let the tan teen sit up.

The prince Sora looked around while rubbing his forehead. He was once again in front of the stone arch. Didn’t he cross it already? His answer didn’t take long to arrive as the fog seemed to move and spit the missing fairy. The laughs didn’t take long to reappear.

“I swear! Once I get to  you I’ll show you who is the stupid fluffy ball!” Before he could throw himself again at the arch, Riku took his hand to stop him. “What? I got further this time!” The  silverette didn’t say a word, just pointed with his free hand at the prince. “Oh! You are awake! You scared us!”

“Sorry... What happened?”

“Seems our  _ dear friends _ are cheating. There’s a path, that’s for sure, but whenever we move a bit wrong the fog brings us back to the very start.” Silver brows furrowed.

“I’ll find the path, just leave it to me!”

Almost an hour later the voices had tired of waiting and gave up, dismissing the trio. The fairy Sora, as tired as he was, wasn’t ready to give up just yet. He was close! He could feel it! Even if he hadn't really had reach to the center of the forest. A soft rattle called their attention and turned around just to see the same black horse that helped them with the heartless event. Its head was low and stopped once reaching the prince. The animal shook its head, approaching the hylian.

“Where is your owner?” The prince spoke softly as he stood up. His movements were slow and careful, reaching out the animal’s head but didn’t dare to touch it yet. He waited for the horse to actually move forward, pressing its forehead against the hylian’s palm. Now that he could pay more attention to the horse, he realized that despair his pure black color it had a small white spot between its eyes in the shape of a heart. “So cute...” He whispered. The horse  whinned and moved to invite the prince to jump on its back, a hint that Sora didn’t take at first.

A few attempts later –even with the fairies help–, the prince managed to get on the horse’s back and allowed the animal to go on its own, surprised to see it was going through the stone arch. Both fairies quickly took their seat over the prince’s head. At first there were some torches hanging on the wall of some ruins but other than that they were still unable to see much. The further the animal went, the less they could see to the point they couldn’t even see their own hands. Riku kept alert all the time, just like his childhood friend. Ten minutes later the fog moved and opened a path like a smokescreen, letting the trio over the animal enter the actual Great Forest of Hyrule.

“ _ The stupid fluffy ball is here! _ ”

“ _ Run! Run! Run! Call the chief! _ ”

“ _ No, no! Hide! _ ”

The tan fairy flapped his wings ready to go after the voices but Riku stopped him. The animal continued its way to a big square, just in front of a huge tree. The forest around them was so green, so alive... nature in that part of the forest seemed to live far from any danger. As soon as the prince jumped down the horse trotted away.

“The Great Tree...” The prince whispered.

“Who’s calling the great tree?” a new voice from behind them asked. As they turned around, both fairies couldn’t believe what their eyes were seeing.

“Your majesty!” Sora, the fairy, called as he flapped his wings to fly to Mickey, just to be slapped away.

“Sora!” Riku cried out, flying fast to his friend to check on him.

“Don’t you dare to touch the chief,  you _ stupid puffy ball _ !”

“So, it was you the one calling me that?! How you dare, Donald?!” Sora cried, rubbing his back.

In front of them stood Mickey, Donald, Goofy and a bunch of kids who Sora didn’t recognize at first. The kids that looked like  hylians were dressing different outfits to make them look like animals, while the animal-like, like Mickey, were just... naked. While the mouse was smiling at them, Donald was shaking his wings to the fairy. The tan fairy was ready to speak again, but Riku place one of his hands over his mouth to shut him up and shook his head.

"It has been a long time, Sora” the mouse said as he approached the hylian.

“E-excuse me?”

“Oh, right, you were just a kid” he laughed. “So, what brings you here?”

“The heartless are here!” The tan fairy cried out after pushing his friend’s hand away.

“Heart... less? Who are them?” The mouse asked as confused as everyone else.

Oh... So that Mickey was the one from that world, not the king they knew. The tan fairy sighed frustrated, resting his head over his friend’s shoulder. He should have imagined. Riku just chuckled and watched the others talk.

“The castle was destroyed and  father sent me here before... be-before...” The prince began to explain, but didn’t find the courage to keep talking. Thankfully someone snoring took everyone’s attention away from him. More than someone, something. The huge tree was snoring! The brunet hylian blinked surprised, looking how a hole with a mouth shape was moving.

“Sorry about that. The great tree is getting old...” Mickey sighed.

“Who?! Who’s there?!” The tree began to talk startling the prince. “Oh, gesh... Did I fall asleep again?”

“That voice sounds familiar...” The brunet fairy whispered.

“Yeah, he sounds like-”

“Oh, Merlin, the great tree! The prince of Hyrule is asking for you.” The mouse cut him out.

“Oh? Prince Sora? My,  my . As glad as I am to see you are safe, I know your visit means bad news. Am I right?”

“Yeah...” 

He didn’t want to remember, once again, what happened but he knew it was the only way to know why his father sent him there. It took him a few minutes before he finally allowed his lips to move and explain everything. The kids around him decided to just go play or do something more interesting, so when he finished only Mickey, Donald and Goofy –and the fairies – were present. He thought the tree had fallen asleep again because of the silence.

“So, it really happened.  Nogan appeared” the tree whispered. “Sora, did you hear about Hyrule’s legend?”

“Yeah, but it makes no sense. I’m a boy and the legend  talks about a princess with a knight and four champions. I don’t have a knight!”

"How can you say you don’t have one? You do!”

“What? No, I don’t!”

“Yes, you do!”

“Then where is he?!”

“He is  right here, boy.”

After a surprised ‘what’ silence was present. The fairies were looking around, trying to figure out who, of all the people present, was that knight the tree was talking about.

“YOU!” The prince cried out, looking up at the tree. The fairies were confused but then the pale teen realized he wasn’t looking at the tree itself, but a black figure sitting on one of the branches while looking at them. Again, everything but its eyes was covered in black, and from that distance they couldn’t see the color of those. “Who are you?!”

The black figure jumped down to the ground, slowly approaching the prince. Aquamarine eyes stared at him and the movement from the mask it looked like its lips parted to say something, but where shut fast when one of the kids screamed. “Black monsters are breaking the spell! They are trying to get here!” 

The mouse pulled the prince away as everyone tried to find a spot to hide. Everyone but the black figure and the fairies.

“Why do you keep trying to use that useless thing?” the mysterious knight asked, taking one of the swords that were resting on his back. “You should try to find something more helpful if you really want to pretend to be fairies that exist to kill those things. Heartless, you called them.”

“You were listening?” The tan fairy asked, brown brows furrowed.

The knight only snorted. “And thanks to the goddess I did or Sora would be dead by now. You have good intentions, but good intentions aren’t the best weapon of choice.”

“Who the hell are you?” Riku was the one asking it again.

Silence fell as aquamarine look closely at the pale fairy. The expression of the knight changed completely and part of his eyebrows were now visible.  _ Silver _ .

“It can’t b-”

“RIKU, WATCH OUT!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five times rewritting this chapter and still not too happy with it. Oh, well.  
> {01/24 edit} I was told it was a bit hard to know who was who when both Sora were present, so I tried to fix that and a couple typos. I also added a tiny part explaining how the 'children of the forest' are dressing. No big changes, just fixing stuff.


	3. The Dark Knight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone asks; yes, I used "Navi"'s kind of fairy for this even if Breath of the Wild has more options.  
> https://marchharex.tumblr.com/post/190439002931/thats-what-happens-when-you-are-bored-and-taking That little gif is how everyone (except the prince and the knight) sees 'canon'/original Sora on that world. Same with Riku, he is just white. 
> 
> I'll try to update weekly (twice per week, if possible) so it doesn't take me years to finish this.

“ It can’t b-”

“RIKU! WATCH OUT!” the tan fairy cried out, flying as fast as possible to push his childhood friend away from the danger.

While the knight and Riku were exchanging words, a black smoke made its way through the fog and pounced on them. Or tried to, since the  silverette was pushed away by his friend and the knight just jumped away once aware of its presence. The cries of the children echoed through the forest but it seemed that at the moment the only threat was that strange smoke.  Between the screams both fairies were able to recognize the prince’s voice calling them, imploring them to hide and be safe. But they just couldn't do that even if it was a single target and the knight would be able to take it down easily. The mysterious man was in a defensive position, holding the bright sword as if ready to attack any moment.

“What’s the plan?” Riku asked, placing himself almost over the knight’s shoulder.

“Easy. Get rid of that thing.” The ‘ _ are-you-kidding-me _ ' expression from the  silverette fairy made the mysterious man laugh. “The chief must be fixing the barrier that keeps the forest safe, so we shouldn’t worry about more getting there.” That short explanation seemed to calm Riku, who after hiding his  keyblade looked at the tan fairy. Sora looked ready to jump to fight, so did the knight. Before Riku could say anything to Sora, the black smoke disappeared. The new trio looked around; the tan fairy confused while the other two  alert to their surroundings.

A chirp was the only warning they got before a black figure threw itself to the knight, surprising them all. It all happened too fast. Before anyone could actually blink, the new figure was helding down the knight against a tree, pressing black hands around his neck. It was like looking to a mirror; the aggressor looked just like the knight, the difference between them being how its skin was black as well and its eyes gold, besides with each movement it left some smoke behind. Hands pressed harder around the knight’s neck, making it hard –and almost impossible- to breath. Both fairies tried to push the heartless away from the knight, but their size were so small that their actions were even unnoticed by the shadow. Meanwhile, the knight was struggling to get free, ignoring how his gaze became increasingly blurred. The shadow moved enough to keep hold around his neck with one hand while it raised the other, its fingers becoming long and sharp claws.

The story was being repeated; the fairies could only watch in horror how the guy’s heart would be ripped unless someone, by any miracle, would save him. This time there was no mysterious knight to save the day. And it didn’t matter how much they tried to kick or punch the shadow; it was just useless. As the shadow moved its claws ready to open its victim’s chest, the tan fairy pulled the shadow’s hood. It didn’t stop completely the shadow from attacking the knight, but with the pull his claw ripped part of the other’s clothes instead of his chest. Riku, seeing how at least that called the shadow’s attention, helped his friend in pulling the hood. The heartless turned around quickly, freeing its victim to face the two fairies. Now both its hands were sharp claws, and somehow both knew that heartless wasn’t happy. They tried to fly away while being followed by an angry shadow of that knight, while the original one was left on the ground coughing for air.

“Sora! The tree!” Riku pointed in front of them, but kept flying straight. The tan fairy smirked, nodding. “Ready? Now!”

While the  silverette flew to the right, the tan fairy flew to the left. The shadow tried to catch both of them, but not only didn’t manage to catch any of them but also ended up  facekissing the tree. Of course, that wasn’t enough to get rid of it but gave enough time to the knight to recover. As soon as the shadow was standing up again and looking at the knight, more upset than before, it threw itself towards its victim but this time was welcomed by a bright sword. A quick move of his hands while holding the sword was enough to finish the work. The heartless was no more.

“You are bleeding!” The tan fairy pointed the knight’s side.

“Just a scratch. I’ll be fine” the boy said after checking himself. “I actually liked this shirt, it was comfortable...” He sighed.

Slowly the kids started to leave their hiding places, between them Goofy and Donald. There was no sign of Mickey yet, and the prince was nowhere to be seen. The knight didn’t seem to be bothered by that since he was complaining about his shirt while one of the kids was trying to check his injures, unlike the fairies that tried to find the other  hylian . It took a few minutes before the mouse and  hylian appeared between the bushes; Mickey was making sure that the barrier was up again and tried to find why, or how, one of the creatures managed to get into the forest. The prince, however, got lost when running away after giving up on his attempts to call for the fairies. Thankfully the mouse found him on his way back. 

While Mickey tried to calm down some of the kids that were still shaking or crying, the prince tried to make the great tree talk again and the knight just disappeared once again, leaving the two fairies alone over one of the tree branches.

“It has been the second time someone almost died on us and we haven't been here one day” the tan fairy said, blue eyes focused on his other self. “It’s so obvious those creatures are heartless, yet we can’t do a thing against them.”

The  silverette said nothing at the moment. His aquamarine eyes were looking everywhere, everything but nothing at the same time. “That’s not true” he finally said back. “Just because our  keyblades don’t work properly, somehow, doesn’t mean we can’t be their support. We may be small, but we are a good team. Didn’t you see how that shadow hit the tree?”

That question made the tan fairy burst out laughing, leaning closer to his childhood friend. “If I didn’t see it? That was the best!” It took him a few seconds to calm down, but a soft smile remained on his face. “But, yeah. We are a good team.”

“YOU SAY WHAT?!” The prince’s voice interrupted their little conversation. Sora, the  hylian , was ruffling his own hair while sitting on the ground, Mickey now on his side patting his back. “ Aaaargh ! But I don’t want to wait until tomorrow! Why, great tree, why?!”

Riku couldn’t help but laugh at the little tantrum the prince was having. The tan fairy didn’t understand what was so funny so he just looked at the  silverette confused. “I-I’m sorry, Sora. You two are just... so alike.” The way Sora the fairy was now pouting and squinting at him just made Riku laugh more.

“Say, Riku” There was a pause from the brunet fairy, allowing his friend to calm down. “Do you think there’s a version of you, too? Mickey, Donald and Goofy are here as well, maybe we find you around.”

“Maybe. Who knows? I just hope he isn’t  a 15 years old me giving us a headache.”

“So, you admit you were a pain in the ass?”

“I- What?! I never said such thing! But I guess I was. A bit.” The tan fairy looked at him, his eyes squinted once again. “Fine! I was. Happy?”

“Yeah!” Sora grinned. 

They were completely unaware of the third presence above them, who was just looking at them with curiosity. He wanted to jump down to their branch, but some of the kids joined the prince’s tantrum for fun and the situation down there was already beyond annoying, so he decided to silently leave the area.

A couple of hours later Goofy announced that the beds for the newcomers were ready on ‘ _ you-know-who _ 's room. Goofy was never one to be subtle with stuff, neither was on this new world. One of the kids guided the prince and both fairies to one of the biggest trees, where a big hole was open just above the roots. As soon as they were inside, it looked like it was a small house with only big leaves separating each room. There were only four rooms, three of them separated by leaves and the round middle one, with a bonfire at the center.

“You will be staying there. Don’t dare to go to the other two” Donald said as he pointed to the left, where they should be staying.

“Gosh, Donald, it isn’t like we are hiding anything”  Goofy’s characteristic laugh broke the tension the duck was building between them. “That’s mine, and this one is Donald’s. Sometimes the chief stays on this one, too, but today he will probably stay up to guard the place with his son.”

“His son?” Riku asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

“Yeah! Sora’s knight.”

“Goofy!” Donald cried out from behind the leaves that separated his room.

“Hm? Did I say something wrong?”

“Just go to sleep!” The duck  commanded .

With a long sigh Goofy complied and vanished through the leaves to his room. The prince was blinking in confusion, but didn’t dare to say a thing. Didn’t dare to annoy the duck. So, he just followed and vanished to the room it was supposed to be his that night. There were two big beds, they looked pretty comfortable despite being made of grass and leaves. Maybe some branches, too. Both beds were on opposite sides of the room, and only one of them looked like someone owned it already; there were different pots on a shelf, a couple of weapons resting against the wall-thing and some clothes discarded on a corner. There was, however, a shirt over the bed that called his attention, and was the ripped one that the knight  has been wearing.

“So, he lives here...” Sora, the prince, whispered. Well, it wasn’t so hard to guess that if he really was the chief’s son.

“I wonder what he’s hiding here” The tan fairy said, trying to look what was inside one of the pots.

“Don’t do that! Don’t be a bad fairy!” Riku laughed as his friend was scolded by the prince. “We are guests here, we must behave. So, now, to sleep!”

The tan fairy pouted but followed. While the prince made himself comfortable on the bed that didn’t look owned, both fairies tried to find a spot around to sleep; Riku ended up sleeping at the prince’s feet while Sora over the pillow, next to his other self’s head. It wasn’t that late in the night, but considering almost everyone living there were kids it was just like a tradition to go to bed soon. And, to be honest, both fairies and prince were really  tired to complain. The only two up were the chief and the mysterious knight, the mouse sitting in front of the great tree and the other patrolling over the trees. They would usually stay up longer than everyone else just to make sure all kids were sleeping and every fire was extinguished before heading to bed, but this time none of them had the intention to sleep after the event with the heartless.

“So, may I ask what’s so special with the fairies?” Mickey asked with his eyes closed.

“That’s something I would like to ask the great tee” the knight answered, jumping down to sit by his father’s side. “All the fairies I’ve seen are just... You know, a brainless  _ ball with wings _ . But those are... Like tiny  hylians with wings.”

“What?” The mouse looked pretty confused as he finally opened his eyes. “They are just  _ balls with wings _ . What do you mean they are like  hylians ?”

Now it was time for the knight to look confused. “No, they aren’t? Did you look at them closely? The blue one is like a tiny version of Sora.”

“Yeah, I’ve been looking at them since they got here. They just look like normal fairies to me.”

“But that’s- impossible...”

Was the mouse just messing with him? How was that possible? The knight blinked repeatedly in confusion; Mickey just titled his head before letting out a chuckle. At midnight the mysterious guy decided to check on the trio just to make sure they were still there and safe, the hours had passed uneventful but he had the urge to make sure the trio didn’t run away for whatever reason. He tried to make his way to the room that he himself occupied usually without any noise, not wanting to wake up anyone. As calm as it was a forest at night, any rumble could echo through the bushes and wake up every kid around. Aquamarine eyes widened as soon as he moved the leaves to get on his room, choking on his attempt to endure a laugh after the initial shock. It was hard. Really hard.

Despite having two beds in the room, the trio decided to use just one to sleep. Well, two of them were sleeping while the third was pretty much suffering. Both Sora were spread-eagled, the prince practically occupying the entire bed while the tan fairy somehow ended up sleeping on the  hyrule’s stomach. Both of them were drooling, and the knight could swear the little fairy was moving his lips as if he was talking, even if nothing but snores left his lips. Riku, however, had a painful expression and his silver brows were furrowed, not to mention one of his wings was twitching every now and then. Well, who wouldn’t suffer if they had a foot just as big as themselves crushing them against the wall? The knight wondered why, or how, the  silverette fairy didn’t wake up. Snorting he approached the scene and carefully moved the prince’s leg to hold the pale fairy with his free hand, placing him over his empty bed. He wasn’t going to use it, anyway.

“Who are you really...? Why are you here?” The knight whispered as he slowly and gently poked one of the white wings, that twitched at the touch. He wasn’t really expecting any answer, so he wasn’t surprised when his question was basically ignored. Hell, he would have been surprised if actually someone answered him! After making sure the trio was just fine, he left the room, but decided to stay near the bonfire for a while.

The slow movement of the flames under a huge pot and the cracking of the wood relaxed the knight. It had been a rough day; he didn't get to sleep at all the last night due to everything that happened in the castle and had been following the prince all day. As creepy as it sounded, it was his duty. Even if the prince himself rejected his protection once. That’s why he was keeping himself in the shadows since then. He closed his eyes leaving his mind blank.

When he opened his eyes again, he was greeting by the sun's rays sneaking through the grand entrance. Early in the morning was the only moment the sun would make its way through the trees and warm the big place. His eyes widened as soon as it clicked on him. When did he fall asleep?! Panic rushed through his veins and stood up quickly, pushing the leaves enough to see that the trio was still sleeping. This time, Sora the fairy was curled up next to Riku with a tormented expression.

“Good... morning” a groggy male called the knight’s attention. The prince Sora was sitting on the bed with his legs spread, hands placed between them to keep him steady. His head was titled to the side and his mouth was half open, a trail of dry saliva on the corner. He was fighting to keep his eyes open, a fight he clearly lost as soon as his upper body fell backward. Back to sleep.

The knight just rolled his eyes and left the room.

“By the goddess... You can’t do that,  Ansem !” that scream startled the  silverette fairy, that quickly woke up.  Ansem ?!  Ansem the wise?! The heartless?! Riku quickly flew to the leaves and pushed them enough –with huge effort- to go through them. The knight was sitting by the bonfire holding a tray with mushrooms, each one bigger than his hands,, trying to keep it away from a preteen that looked pretty upset.

The new guy had a blonde hair and was wearing a green, simple outfit made of green leaves. He wasn’t even wearing shoes.

"Who says I can’t?! You don’t even know how to fry an egg, how are you supposed to know how to use them?!” The knight quickly yelled back, completely forgetting their guests. 

“C’mon! Donald, tell him something! He can’t use those delicious mushrooms for that dish, he will waste them!” Donald just groaned gibberish stuff from the other side of the leaves that lead to his room.

Wait- Aquamarine eyes widened at the realization. The knight was  Ansem . The mysterious guy, the one that they didn’t even know the name yet, was  Ansem . The one he knew didn’t have that color on his eyes, not to mention he was an old man and the one in front of him was clearly a teen, not much older than himself. But, didn’t  Ansem kept his identity a secret at first? Maybe... that mysterious guy wasn’t really an ally?

“Peter, gosh, keep that voice low! You are waking them up!” Ansem said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, so what? It’s almost noon, they should be already up.” The blonde rolled his eyes, folding his arms above his chest.

“Noon?! For how long have we been sleeping?!” The  silverette fairy asked, surprised.

“More than you should, but you all looked pretty tired so I guess you really needed it. However, I think you should wake up Sora. Both of them.” The knight continued cooking, ignoring the  blonde’s complains.

Some hours passed before the group found itself in front of the great tree again. Sora, the prince, was pressing his hands together in front of his chest as if he was praying to the tree. The tan fairy was sitting over his head with his legs crossed, while the  silverette one was floating close to the knight, who was just a couple steps behind the prince with one of his hands pressed against his own waist. Mickey was looking at the tree, waiting for any reaction from it. Kids were playing around, unaware of any danger outside the fog.

It took Riku a few minutes to have both Sora up and ready to eat something. Lunch was pretty silent, except for the tan fairy complaining at how hard was eating such big pieces of food in such a small body. After that, Riku bluntly asked the knight if he was  Ansem , a question the tan fairy didn’t understand at first but decided to ignore it once the knight finally confirmed it. Because of that, the  silverette felt an urge to keep an eye on that mysterious guy, and that’s why he was by his side now.

“What’s all that noise?” The tree finally woke up, letting a yawn scape.

“Sorry, great tree. But I still don’t know why I was sent here by my father. After the strange event from yesterday, I was told you don’t... really talk twice per day so I had to wait. But I can’t wait anymore, if there’s something I should know I want to know it  _ now _ .” The prince’s voice was demanding, but his eyes pleading.

“Right... Well, it’s easy, boy.” The tree cleared his throat, if a tree could have one. “ _ You _ , dear Sora, must defeat  Nogan . To do tha-”

“Are you mad?!” The brunette prince interrupted, losing all his color at the idea of  _ him _ having to defeat such a huge creature.

“To do  thaaaaaaaat ” Continued talking, ignoring the prince’s outburst. “You must weaken him first. Darkness is spreading fast, even as we talk, all over Hyrule’s Breath. Those creatures are weak right now, but they are getting stronger. This world is losing its light, and if no one stops  Nogan ... This world will  disappear .”

“Yeah, with no pressures...”  Ansem rolled his eyes, now folding his arms above his chest.

“Why... me? Why not  Ansem ?! He is  way stronger than me!”

At that question, the knight approached and took the white sword that was resting on his back, offering it to the prince. The tan  hylian hesistated at first, but finally took that weapon between his hand. It confused him how the white aura around it vanished as soon as he did, being now a simple, light, white sword. “ _ She _ is yours”  Ansem said. “Her name is  _ Princess’ heart _ . This one” he pointed the other one still resting on his back “is the  _ Dark Knight _ . This one is mine.”

“The pure princess, with the help of her knight and her four champions, will destroy Dark  Nogan .” Now was the tree’s turn to continue explaining. “But the princess isn’t pure anymore. Long ago, she lost her light and with it her power. She was corrupted the moment she found her  next wielder. She needs her light back to be pure again, and  _ you _ are the only one who can do that.”

“B-but, wait! That sword was just- Where is the light? It was shining!” The tan prince was really, really confused.

“Because  Ansem here has been giving the light on his heart to keep her alive.”

“Then keep doing that!”

“I ca-”

“If he does that his heart will be just darkness.”

Both fairies had a  deja -vu, but the tan fairy was the only one showing so by hugging himself.

“Get stronger, Sora! As you weaken your enemy, you will find the power in you to keep  _ Princess’ heart _ alive. And maybe find the other two champions, too.”

And what was their role in all that? Riku wondered as he folded his arms. Well, it wasn’t like they had anything better to do than follow them wherever they went, at least until they were able to find a way to get back to their world. Or size, or the power from their  keybades back. After a few instructions on where to go first and who they should contact for more guidance, the tree fell back into a long sleep. Prince eyes looked at the sleeping sword on his hands, unsure of what to do or say. His inside was having a weird war; fear, confusion, loneliness... everything was back slapping him even harder. Why him, however? That question was ignored. While he was trying to understand all the information he just received,  Ansem decided to get ready for that travel to give him some space. Sora, the fairy, was looking at sword as well, he just looked as confused as the prince was. Although it was for a different reason. How  Ansem was able to give his light to that sword? Was his other self the real wielder and that’s why only he would be able to wake up that weapon? If so, why the sword didn’t get her light back? Those questions were crossing his mind, so focused on them that didn’t realize that Riku was nowhere to be seen.

The  silverette fairy was following the mysterious knight, trying to keep some distance. It looked like every kid around loved  Ansem by the way everyone was greeting at him or looked even happier when his presence was noticed. Maybe was because all the attention he was getting from the kids that he didn’t notice the pale fairy following him. Or probably he was just pretending to don’t notice, Riku thought. After the knight packed some stuff on a leather bag, he walked towards the little house inside the tree. There he began to remove the black gloves before pushing the leaves to his room; the pale fairy flew as fast as he could to get in the room before the leaves dropped back down. Riku tried to keep himself unnoticed over the leaves, keeping an eye on the other who was still with his back towards the fairy. Gloves were dropped on his bed, and soon his leather belt followed. It was time for the tight hood that kept his head hidden... Slowly, pale and large fingers pushed the fabric, releasing long and silver strands of hair. As soon as the hood was removed, those same fingers pulled the mask away before the entire top was discarded over the bed.

“Turn around...” Riku thought to himself. He wanted to see the other’s face to get the answer to  _ who _ was really that  Ansem guy.

As if the other one actually heard him, he turned around with his head down while trying to look for something. Now his longs bangs were keeping his face covered, to Riku’s frustration.

“Are you planning to stare at me while I get naked?” The guy talked, startling Riku. “Well? At least do you like what you see,  _ other me _ ?”

The knight finally lifted his head to look at the fairy. Silver hair was falling over his pale shoulders, bangs long enough to keep part of his eyes covered but the aquamarine of his orbs was still visible. That coolly smile... 

Yeah, definitely, that was  _ the other Riku _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand I'm pretty sure everyone was expecting this. Who 'Ansem' really is. If not- SURPRISE!  
> This chapter may be a bit boring, but I wanted to keep the three first chapters to show a bit of the main team/characters; the arrival of the canon/original duo, the prince and the knight.
> 
> Hyrule's Breath Riku from this point: https://marchharex.tumblr.com/post/190515739631


	4. Chain of memories. Part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why chapters are published with random double spaces- They look just fine when I publish them?
> 
> Dark chapter is dark. What is reality? What's a lie?  
> Chain of memories was supposed to to have 5 parts, but now is down to only 2. Too confusing? Please, I promise everything will get its answers in due time.

The stench around him was too unbearable, yet his eyes refused to open and see the cause of such a horrible smell. One could hear screams, cries, the creaking of the wood, things collapsing. His brain was screaming to him to run, however, his legs refused to listen. Yet, his eyes were shut tightly and there was no sign that they would open anytime soon. Steps of people running. Closer. Way too close. “Run!” a childish voice was screaming on his head, but still, his body remained stiff like a statue. The sound of a loud thunder finally got his body to react, just to jump, however, startled. How long has he remained in that position? Seconds? Minutes? He didn’t really care. He just wanted everything to stop. He wished that, when he opened his eyes, he discovered that all those annoying noises and smells were part of his imagination. Sadly, the little voice reminded him that it was not like that. That, whatever was going on, was way too real.

Eyes snapped open when he felt something touching his nose. In front of him, a tiny version of himself was looking at him with worried eyes as he was pressing gentle his tiny hand on the tip of his nose. His reflection was moving his lips, telling him something, but despite how close he was to his face he couldn’t hear anything. His hands squeezed tightly around an object he didn’t remember he was holding, moving it closer to his chest. That tiny version of himself looked like he was now screaming something, his little shoulders were tensed as his face morphed into a painful one. Maybe even upset, too? His pupils weighed too much, everything around him was spinning.

_ You can’t run from it. _

The quiet whisper of a distant voice was enough for him to slowly close his eyes again as a silver stain made its way close to him. The stench, the cries, the storm... Everything was back.

_ That was your fault, remember? _

The body began to shake like a leaf dragged by the wind. What was his fault? He didn’t remember, yet the pressure in his chest and the pain on his heart made him believe that, whatever had happened, it was, indeed, his fault. Slowly he started to feel as if his body began to burn; at first it was a warm sensation, then hot. Too hot. Painfully hot. His lips parted to let out a cry, one so strong that his throat began to hurt even before he was done. His eyes opened and soon he felt the warm and wet sensation of tears slowly making its way down his cheeks, dying on his bare skin over the top. His reflection wasn’t there anymore, the green and brown from the trees weren’t coloring his surroundings anymore, but, instead, dark colors from the night mixed with the red of blood and fire. There were dead bodies everywhere, limbs and heads —or the remaining of them— decorating the bloody floor. A grotesque image his innocent mind didn’t want to see. The very few survivors from whatever had happened were either running away, trying to find their missing loved ones between tears of despair or desperately looking for someone to help them, too injured to even move an inch. He stood still. The object he had been holding before now felt heavier, forcing him to fall on his knees. With panic still on his face, blue, lifeless eyes descended to the object. His eyes widened as soon as he realized he wasn’t holding an object anymore, but instead a small body with a sword going through his stomach. One of his trembling hands moved to raise a bit the boy’s head, finding a small blood thread running between the corner of his lips, dying almost on his ear. The silver hair of the little body was messy and had little branches and leaves on it, as if he was hiding over the bushes before finding his fatal fate. The pain in his heart began to spread to his chest, slowly consuming his whole body.

“Ri... ku...” 

A little spark appeared over the dead body’s chest, glowing bigger and bigger until he was blinded by it, forcing him to close his eyes tightly and cover them with his forearm. The weight of the small body vanished soon after, just like the horrible smell. The cries were now  whispers around him, his body felt light as a feather. The burning sensation was now warm, soothing. He allowed himself to be wrapped by it, longing that familiar warmth. The whispers were now a bit clearer to him; childish but worried voices. However, he was unable to understand what were they saying. The sound of a heart beating at an abnormal speed prevented him from paying attention, anyway. That sound was so calming despite its speed, so relaxing... Lazily his eyes opened, forced to blink until they were used again at the new light. Still, they remained only half open for a few seconds before they shut again. However, this time, everything was black and the whispers shut up.

Seconds. Minutes.  _ Hours _ had passed before blue eyes opened lazily, remaining open this time. A pair of worried aquamarine orbs appeared in front of him just a couple of seconds later.  _ Who are you...? _ He wanted to ask, but his brain wasn’t sending any order to his lips. Everything was blurry, he couldn’t figure out where he was.

“Sora?” the owner of those aquamarine eyes called in a whisper. The prince finally reacted, but only blinked repeatedly. He tried to focus his gaze on whoever was calling him, but it was hard. Too hard. “Sora?” the other called, again.

“Where am I?” the tan  hylian asked, slowly sitting up with one hand over his forehead. While his gaze was now clear and could see that the guy next to him was  Ansem , his head was spinning. “What happened?” His voice was low, afraid it would cause him a headache.

No answer. Confused, the prince turned his head enough to look at his companion; his back was towards him, it seemed the knight was looking for something around the shelf. It took Sora long seconds before realizing that he was now able to see the other’s hair, lovely silver strands that were brushing his shoulders and part of his back with each movement. Would that mean that he, finally, would be able to see his saviors face? The answer to that question soon arrived as the knight turned around with a small pot on one of his hands, some kind of cloth on the other. No. Actually, he was able to even see less since the mask was still there and the bangs were covering almost everything else.

“You are now on my room. On the bed you used last night” ‘ _ Ansem _ ’ finally answered, sitting on a stool that was resting next to the bed. “You got some fever. Nothing bad, but we will have to wait until you are better to leave.” There was a pause. Sora realized that the knight was wearing no gloves at the moment, and his shirt had a weird, yet somehow familiar, symbol on it. Silver bangs were pulled gently and placed behind the ear by pale hands, his eyes now fully visible again. 

The  silverette remained silent as carefully smeared the cloth with some kind of cream from the pot, making sure it had a good amount before approach it to the sun-kissed skin. “It’s a remedy that will help your fever, no need to worry” he said softly through the mask when his eyes realized how tensed the prince was, and how the younger boy moved unconsciously away from his touch. As soon as Sora nodded and relaxed, the knight proceeded to smear his forehead with the cream.

“You didn’t answer what happened” The brunet’s voice sounded more demanding than he intended, but wanted to know. He  _ needed _ to know.

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer. I was changing my clothes when I hear the kids screaming, when I got there you were on the floor screaming.” Their eyes never met;  Ansem was too focused to make sure there wasn’t an inch of skin without cream, and the discomfort of the closeness of a stranger made Sora keep his blue eyes down. “I guess I could ask you the same.”

Flashes of what he  has seen hit him as his body tensed. It felt so real, yet, clearly, it wasn’t.

_ “Y-you... You are me?!” the pale fairy asked, even if he already knew the answer. “Why everyone calls you  _ _ Ansem _ _?” So blunt, but that just made the knight laugh. _

_ “Yes, I’m Riku. And I would greatly appreciate if you just keep calling me  _ _ Ansem _ _ in front of everyone else. Specially Sora. The prince one.” _

_ “From who are you hiding?” the fairy asked, folding his arms. _

_ “Isn’t it obvious? From Sora.” _

_ “Why?” Was he really one to ask that question? He, who did basically the same? _

_ “Long story short, he doesn’t want me on his life anymore. He went so far as to forget the existence of ‘Riku’.” He just shrugged it off. _

_ The fairy wanted to know what happened. Why Sora, someone able to forgive even his  _ _ worse _ _ enemy, did such a thing? However, if that other Riku was just like him, he knew better than to push the wrong buttons. _

_ “May I ask why the name  _ _ Ansem _ _ , though?” _

_ “It’s the name of the man that adopted me first. He took good care of me before he killed himself with one of his experiments. He was a wise man...” _

_ “What the...” it’s all the pale fairy was able to think after that answer. Even if his lips parted to say something else, they were interrupted when one of the kids began to scream at the other side of the leaves, crying some incoherencies about Sora. Not long after, both Riku were able to hear the prince screaming. _

_ The pale fairy flew away as fast as he was able on an attempt to find the prince’s position soon, but the moment the  _ _ hylian _ _ ran past him the fairy held on one of the silver strands. With how tall the knight was, there was no doubt it was way faster than flying. Or so he thought. He didn’t find any other fairy to know if it was  _ _ just _ _ him and Sora or all the fairies were that slow. As soon as they found the prince, he was convulsing on the ground, princess’ heart on his side. _

_ “Sora!” the knight screamed, kneeling close to him.  _

_ The  _ _ silverette _ _ fairy looked around, spotting the other fairy with fear on his face. _

_ “What happened?” Mickey, who just approached the place, asked. _

_ “I don’t know!” the tan fairy answered, shaking his arms. He was really nervous. “We were here just fine. He said something and since I wasn’t paying attention, I asked him to repeat whatever he said, but he didn’t. When I wanted to see if there was something wrong, his eyes were just black! Like all of them! As if he was possessed! I-I don’t know for how long I’ve tried to shake him, but he came to his sense. Or I think so because he was looking at me just fine. Then, bam! The sword began to shine and he was on the ground.” _

_ The  _ _ silverette _ __ _ hylian _ _ looked at the sword with a frown, but said nothing before returning his attention to the prince. Slowly the body stopped shaking until it looked like a lifeless person with a peaceful expression on his face. Mickey placed his hand on the prince’s forehead, shaking his head. _

_ “He should go rest. Probably it’s just the same like the first time you took Dark Knight between your hands, so he should be fine after some rest. But it wouldn’t hurt if someone keeps an eye on him. You know, for caution.” _

_ At that time children had gathered around them, watching the scene with concern. The knight took the unconscious prince on his arms —bride style— and carried him to his room, being followed by some kids who kept whispering their concerns. The two fairies followed close, too. Once they reached the room, the prince was placed carefully over the bed he used the night before and the kids were shooed. The tan fairy stood at the foot of the bed, looking worried at his other self. _

_ “He will be fine?” the tan fairy asked, looking up at the knight. It was just then when he realized that  _ _ Ansem _ _ wasn’t just shirtless, but his mask wasn’t on his face either. “RIKU?!” His eyes were wide open while the knight just blew a few strands of hair away from his face. “I-it was you all the time?! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Why didn’t you just say so?!” _

_ The silverette fairy placed himself next to his childhood friend, keeping an eye on the prince. Meanwhile, the knight just went to the room on the center to borrow a stool, placing it next to the prince’s bed. _

_ “First of all, yeah. He will be fine. Secondly. I just had this conversation with your friend. Yes, I’m Riku. Sora didn’t want to see me again so I just decided to use another name to save him.” The knight raised a hand to brush his bangs backwards, being annoyed at how hard it was to see a thing with them covering his eyes. _

_ “Why does this sound painfully familiar...” _

_ “No one here but Mickey knows my real name, and while I wouldn’t mind if you actually call me Riku here, I would appreciate if you don’t. Not in front of Sora. Of him.” He pointed the prince. _

_ “Do you really think he is that stupid to don’t recognize you? Or are you planning to cover your face all the time?” Sora asked, although the pale fairy looked curious about the answer. _

_ “Why do you think I’ve been wearing the mask?” The  _ _ silverette _ __ _ hylian _ _ asked, feeling the prince’s tan skin. “Although I’m sure he wouldn’t recognize me. Not because he is stupid or something, but... Because he has no memory of me. It’s a long story, ok? And don’t ask. I don’t want to talk about it.” _

Both fairies were on the other bed, silently watching as the knight was taking care of the prince. The tan fairy was shaking on his place,  bitting the inner of his cheek on his best attempt to don’t scream out who really was ‘ Ansem ’. Both Riku made him promise he wouldn’t say a word; while he understood the knight reasons, why his childhood friend was so against it, too? The  silverette fairy, who noticed how anxious his friend was, took the younger’s wrist and pulled him enough to expose the bare skin of his forearm. A pale finger softly caressed the sun-kissed skin, a gesture that confused the brunet fairy. A light crimson color stained the tan cheeks, so light it was barely noticeable. As much as it confused him, he had to admit that the soft touch relaxed his body. It felt nice, and tempted him to lean closer for more. After a short pause, the  silverette repeated his actions. It took a few attempts before Sora, the fairy, realized what the other was doing. “ _ Are you okay? _ ” the pale finger wrote on his skin and aquamarine eyes looked at him. The brunet fairy shook his head in negation. As tempted as he was to lie, he knew better than to do so. “ _ Riku? _ ” The finger wrote on his skin, with eyes fixed on the knight’s back. This time the younger fairy sighed and pulled his arm away. 

“Why?” He whispered, looking at his childhood friend.

“It’s his decision.” That was all the  silverette answered before his other  self looked at them over his shoulder, frowning. “Since Sora is already awake, we are going to check the place and make sure everything is ok. Just call us if we are needed.” Riku said as he stood up, hinting his friend to the same. Ansem pushed the leaves to help the fairies leave.

“What was that for?” Sora asked, flying close to the silverette. “I didn’t want to leave.”

“Sora, I know you. I know you were about to explode and say everything to the prince. Remember that we can’t mess with this world” Riku answered, his chuckle becoming a laugh at his friend’s pout.

"I can’t say I understand why he doesn’t want to say a thing. I mean, he is obviously  hidding something but... Why you?” This time Sora was in front of  Riku, preventing him from flying away. Blue meet aquamarine, brown brows furrowed.

The  silverette was unsure, now, if his friend was asking him why he was on his other self’s side or if he was asking, again, why he once used to hide himself the same way. With a sigh the older teen brushed his hair backward. “Sometimes we believe our actions are the best to save someone, but we don’t realize how wrong we are. Other times, we are just forced to do what we do. Sora, we don’t know where this other Riku is, and he doesn’t want to talk about it. Give him time. Give  _ them _ time.

“Besides, we are stuck here for some time. Do you really want to bother him doing exactly the opposite of the only thing he asked you?” A single silver brow was arched, questioning.

No response.

“Sora...?  _ Please...? _ ”

“Fine! I’ll try it. But I can’t promise anything.” His cheeks were puffed the moment Riku ruffled his hair with a smile on his lips.

"Who’s a good boy?” Riku asked, teasing.

“I-I’m not a dog, Riku?!” 

“No, but you are- How did Donald call you?  _ Fluffy ball _ ? I guess that was it. Guess who saw that baby tummy despite your small size.”

Oh, no. Riku wasn’t really touching that topic, right? Yes, he was. There was a cry of surprise coming between Sora’s lips, eyes wide open. The  silverette got the exact reaction he was after; distracting Sora from all that  Ansem topic. The brunet shook his fist and the pale fairy took the hint to fly away fast, being followed by his childhood friend. At first the brunet was grumpy at how Riku was teasing him but, after a few seconds, all his useless threats became laughter. When was the last time they were able to play like that? Wasn’t it before Destiny Islands was devoured?

Ansem looked the fairies have their fun from his spot, leaning over the huge entrance the improved house inside the tree. 

_ “Riku! Riku!” a childish voice called after him. As soon as his aquamarine looked over his shoulder, he found the owner of that voice. “Why didn't you come play with me yesterday? I was waiting all day!” _

_ A small, tan boy with brown spiky hair was looking at him, his blue eyes betraying that, despite his sad expression, he was really happy to see him. The brunet puffed his cheeks and placed one of his small hands over his shoulder. _

_ “You promised. You said you would come  _ _ every day _ _!” _

_ A chuckle escaped between his lips. “I’m sorry, Sora.” _

The  silverette hylian shook his head and went back inside his room, where the prince was now sleeping. The prince’s face was calm, there wasn’t a single wrinkle nor eyebrows were furrowed. He looked like he was sleeping in peace. An expression that, somehow, relieved the knight. How wrong the older  hylian was to believe that nothing was about to bother the prince’s sleeping mind. The  silverette didn’t pay attention at how much time have passed since the last time his eyes fell on the tan boy, he was lying comfortably on his bed when his gaze traveled to the prince and realized a wrinkle between his brows was forming. Cautious, he moved one of his pale hands on an attempt to feel the other’s forehead to make sure the discomfort wasn’t because the fever got worse, but to his surprise tan finger wrapped quickly around his wrist.

“Sora?” the knight whispered, slowly sitting up on the edge of his bed. The room wasn’t so big, but still his bed was moved closer.

“I want to go home...”

Despite the frown now visible on the knight’s face, he was unable to blame the prince for wanting such a thing. To be fair, he couldn’t even blame the younger  hylian for being afraid. He used to be a happy and innocent prince surrounded by his loved ones and his loyal guard. Yet, in less than twenty-four hours his entire world was destroyed and forced into a suicide mission. The knight’s lips parted to let out a sigh, retracting his hand.

“It is no longer your home. Now it’s  Nogan’s home... But we can kick his ass away and reclaim your home.” Those words had sounded way better in his mind.

“Why do you want to help me? Why have you been saving me? Why, when you could have done like that guard?”

Guard? Oh, right... The guy that left the castle with Sora and was supposed to help him get to the forest. The same guy that almost pissed himself when a couple of shadows appeared and pushed the prince as bait while he ran away. ‘ Ansem ’ groaned remembering how hard he tried to find that guard after saving Sora, wanting to beat him up for daring to call himself guard while being such a coward.

"I- Because it's my duty. Besides, I’m the only one that can hold  _ Dark Knight _ so you need me” the  silverette said the last words pointing at the sword resting against the wall. 

“Your duty...”

The prince didn’t say anything else. Actually, he turned around and curled up, making it obvious to the knight that, for whatever reason, he didn’t want to talk anymore. At least for now.

Hours passed uneventful; Riku, the  hylian , kept an eye on the prince and only left the room to prepare something to eat. The fairies decided to investigate the forest –or as much as they were able without crossing the fog–, finding that there were different houses, all of them inside the big trees. There were some even underground. At least that explained to them where all those kids lived. The prince only left the room once dinner was done, ate in silence and returned to his temporal bed. That behavior was getting on the other Sora’s nerves, but it didn’t matter how many times he tried to ask, the answer was always the same; nothing.

“You did this to me, Sora.”

The prince couldn’t recognize the voice, but, somehow, it felt so familiar... He was afraid to turn around and see who was talking to him. His eyes were half open, looking at the wall in front of him as he curled up on the bed.

“Why, Sora? I thought we were friends.” The same childish voice talked and, this time, the tan  hylian felt a chill down his spine. “Not even an apology? Was so easy for you to forget me?”

Sora decided to slowly turn around;  Ansem was on his bed sleeping peacefully, his mask still covering half of his face. The  silverette fairy was over the pale  hylian’s pillow, while the tan fairy was snuggled up between some of the long silver strands. It would have been a normal scene if wasn’t because there was another body on the bed. The prince’s eyes widened, but remained silent.

The intruder moved to stand between both beds, looking at the prince with sharp eyes. He was just a kid, yet his expression was so cold... Bloody tears were falling down his cheeks, and another trail of blood escaped from the corner of his lips. His aquamarine eyes were now glaring at the teen hylian, his silver strands dancing with each movement. The little body took a step forward, letting the soft light of a torch illuminate his body better; his skin was the palest color the prince had ever seen despite the orange touch from the torch, black and blue spots were visible all over his body. His clothes were ripped and...

“Do you remember now,  _ your Majesty _ ?” the kid questioned, his voice harsh at the last words.

There was a hole on his stomach as if something went through him. That may have explained why the kid looked so dead. The prince shook in fear and sat up, covering his mouth with both hands. That could stop his voice, but that didn't stop the tears.

“So, you do...” the kid whispered, a smirk on his face.

“Go away!” the prince screamed in tears. “GO AWAY!” he repeated, closing his eyes tightly.

It didn’t even take a second for him to hear some fast movement next to him, feeling how the bed sank down at the weight of another person.

“Hey, Sora?!” The prince opened his eyes to find  Ansem in front of him with a worried expression. On his shoulder both fairies were also staring at him. Just a couple of seconds later the leaves pushed aside to let Goofy and Donald join them, each one holding a branch on their hands, ready to kick whoever was molesting the prince.

“Ansem?! The hell are you doing?!” Donald asked, glaring at the silverette hylian.

“Nothing! I was just slee-”

“I saw him again...” the prince cut him out. Now all the eyes were on him, curiosity shining in their orbs. “I-I... I killed him... didn’t I?”

There was silence. No one answered because they didn’t understand the question.

"It’s probably just your imagination” Mickey began to talk as he pushed the leaves aside. He, despite being in the square, also heard the screaming. “You have been through a lot in such a short period of time, Sora. There’s always a limit of what one can handle.”

“Am I... going insane?” the tan  hylian asked, relieved when he saw the mouse shake his head in negation.

“Who is that guy you saw again?”

“...” Sora, the  hylian , felt all the eyes on him. He didn’t know what to answer, he didn’t know the kid. But there was always a name crossing his mind whenever he saw him. Maybe, just maybe, was because he looked really similar to the pale fairy.

“It’s okay, you do- Sora?” Mickey blinked in confusion. Not only the prince wasn’t listening to him, but he was now reaching out to the pale fairy.

“Riku... can you, please, forgive me?” the prince asked in a whisper. The pale fairy was confused. Why should he forgive him? Did Sora, the prince, do something to him while he was sleeping? He wanted to ask, but the prince saw his confusion and quickly looked down. “I can’t really explain what’s going on. But it’s the second time I saw him. The first time he was dead on my arms, and- and now... He was here, hating me and accusing me. He- he had a hole on his body, I-I was able to see through it!” There was a pause. “He was just a kid! And I killed him! I killed Riku!” Ansem’s body, or better said  _ Riku’s _ , froze at those words after his eyes wide opened.

While the tan fairy decided it was a good moment to glare at the pale  hylian , the  silverette fairy realized something.  _ Princess’ Heart _ , that was resting not far from  _ Dark Knight _ , shone for a few seconds. But its light wasn’t pure bright like it used to be when the knight was holding it, but it was... black.

After that, the room fell into an awkward silence that was only broken when Mickey decided it was a good moment to go back to sleep, try to rest since next morning their travel would begin and it was a long one. Both fairies decided to sleep next to the prince while the knight stayed up the rest of the night. There were many questions crossing his mind, but the main one was why the prince thought  _ he _ was dead. Did  _ she _ lie to him when  _ she _ said Sora lost almost all his memories from his childhood? 

Curiously, in the morning the prince was smiling as if nothing happened. He looked again like the cheerful guy the fairies tried to save a couple of times. That, of course, if one was able to ignore that the little stars on his blue orbs weren’t there anymore. His laughter was just a mask. No one said a thing, however. A couple of hours later both  hylian were sitting on the black horse, the knight being the one holding the reins. Both swords were resting on a sack since the prince refused to touch any of them for now. The fairies were resting over the prince’s head again.

"What do you say the place is called?” the tan fairy asked.

“ Kakariko village. We should arrive before the sun sets” the knight responded, bored.

“And there we have to talk with the chief, right?” was the prince the one asking this time. “Do you know them?”

The knight nodded. “ Naminé is-”

“WHAT?!” the brunet fairy asked, his heart skipping a beat. Was that because of Roxas? Riku couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend’s reaction.

"What? There’s a  Naminé too on your world?” the knight asked, curious.

“Yeah- Well, used to be? It’s hard to explain.”

“I see... Well, like I was saying, she is like the purest person you will ever met.”

“Do you like her?” the brunet  hylian asked, tilting his head.

“What?! No! She is cute and all, but that’s it.”

“Yeah,  suuuuuure ” the brunet  hylian tried to mess with the knight, but stopped as soon as he felt some movement over his head. He tried to see what the fairies were doing, but failed.

_ Your light is going out. _

A whisper called the prince attention.

“Did you say something?” he asked, but the knight just looked over his shoulder confused before shaking his head.

_ You are allowing the darkness to take over your heart. You are weak. _

_ “ _ What...?”

_ You aren’t ready. You are going to die. You always did... _

The prince didn’t know what to say or what to do. Who was whispering those things to him? By the movements over his head it seemed the fairies were having a childish fight and the knight kept his mask on. With a sigh he leaned over,  hidding his face on the  silverette’s back, wrapping his arms around the other’s waist to keep himself from falling.

“Everything will be okay” the knight said out of the blue.

_ Nothing will be okay. This world can't be saved. The door has been opened, and you are the one to blame. _


	5. Chain of memories. Part 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Who thought I was not going to update anymore? Everyone? Ok... Well, to be fair I wouldn't blame anyone for believing that LOL Time is something that I haven't had much lately, but managed to put 4 chapters in just 1!~~
> 
> This chapter is... almost twice as long from preview chapters. Let me know if you prefere longer ones!
> 
> Naminé: https://marchharex.tumblr.com/post/190651886091
> 
> **  
> _Warnings: Bad words coming from a child's mouth. Somewhat repulsive descriptions and violence._  
>  **

Arms smaller than him were still around his waist, but it seemed that the knight didn't care much. Not even when those arms tightened the grip unconsciously every time the owner moved, or when they released him for any reason only to return to wrap his waist within a few seconds. The silver-haired young man knew that this grip was only to keep the owner in place and not fall off the horse. _Ansem_ listened as the other three chatted animatedly, how sometimes one of the fairies asked curiously about that world... Something the pale hylian had to admit that filled him with curiosity. Why did they ask about Hyrule’s Breath? Were they not from that world? If so, would they have something to do with the darkness that little by little devoured that world? 

_Ansem_ looked around, distracting his mind with the green landscape before him. Everything seemed calm; the trees swayed gently in the breeze, the animals grazed freely, from time to time they met some horse-riding adventurer... It was like an ordinary day, all ignoring how the castle, visible from any corner of Hyrule, seemed to be swallowed by the darkness itself. Or the horrible monster that appeared at the top with its sharp fangs ready to east any being that approached it. So much tranquility began to bother the knight; the day before he could barely take a couple of steps without those black creatures throwing themselves over or trying to approach the prince, but that day it seemed that all danger had disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye he observed the two swords that rested next to his bow and arrows in one of the sacks that hung from the horse, would it have something to do that the princess's heart had returned to the hands of its true owner? 

His discomfort and thoughts were interrupted by the growl of the hungry stomach of the brown-haired fairy, and he would have chosen to ignore it completely if that sound had not been answered by an even more famished growl from the prince's stomach. By that time, they had already managed to do almost half the way to Kakariko village so the silverette decided it was a good time to rest. Not to mention, obviously, that even the horse needed one. While the fairy duo and the prince settled under the shade of a tree to eat some fruits, _Ansem_ decided to patrol around, keeping the trio always in sight. Obviously, his stomach claimed to be refilled just like the others, but that meant having to shed the mask that covered the lower half of his face. As on the previous occasions, he chose to eat in the privacy that he would only get when they reached the village. A few more hours without eating, but it was something he was already used to. 

Meanwhile, in Halloween Town, a mummy duck, a tall macabre-looking dog and an undead mouse walked briskly down one of the main streets towards the square where they hoped to find the Pumpkin King; Jack Skellington. Mickey, the zombie, was struggling to keep himself in one piece. Not every day one can literally lose one's head and require someone's help to put it back on their shoulders. And, without a doubt, it was an experience that the king didn't want to repeat again. His expression remained serene, but inside he screamed in repulsion every time he took a step and heard his skin falling apart between his thigths. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he was disgusted by the idea of his own body rotting on every movement. He grimaced when on one of his steps there was an audible squish. The mouse was relieved, however, once realizing the sound was because he stepped on a green substance. The mouse king was accustomed to dark places, especially after being in the same darkness with Aqua and Riku. However, that world managed to put his hair on end. Or would, if he had any at that moment. 

When they reached the square, they didn't find the creature they were looking for, but instead they found a blue skinned, red-haired doll; Sally. In one of her hands she held a basket with flowers and seemed to be heading in the opposite direction to them. Donald, recognizing the walking doll, ran to get her attention. She was one of the few creatures who knew at all times where Jack was, and at that moment she was their hope to reach the pumpkin king. That occasion was no exception, and although the curiosity to know what they were doing there and where Sora was was enormous, she gave in to the request to take them to the skeleton. 

“Where’s Sora?” the pumpkin king questioned recognizing two of his visitors. His eyes sockets moved, showing a curious expression on him. 

“It's strange to see you two without him around. Who is your friend?” he added within a few seconds, noticing the third creature. 

“I’m Mickey” the king replied, knowing his faithful sorcerer too well. And the duck seemed not to accept too well when someone did not speak respectfully to his king, even in worlds where he was nobody. “And we came to ask something similar. In fact, we are looking for Sora and his friend, Riku. We wondered if, by any chance, they were here.” 

“Mickey, ah? Hm...” The tall skeleton straightened, placing one hand on the waist while the other tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Well, personally I haven't seen Sora around here.” 

The red-haired doll, which was positioned not far from the skeleton, took a couple of steps to approach the group. She was holding the basket with both of his hands now, raising it practically to chest height. 

“Things have not gone very well here lately. In fact, it seems that today is the first quiet day since those strange events began” the redhead's voice sounded almost like a whisper. 

“Oh, right! It was a nightmare! I think those events have given me some ideas for next Halloween” Jack added, raising his hands in the air in a victory pose. 

While the king of Halloween talked to himself about what they could do for those dates, the trio watched the doll curiously. The king knew, or suspected, that this was due to the anomaly that Sora and Riku had gone to investigate. Although, in truth, he wanted to know what the consequences of that anomaly had been in that world. 

“Things moved. Not small objects, but large ones. Buildings. In the cemetery some of the graves have had to be put back in place. Sometimes it even seemed that the world was losing its gravity ... and everything, and everyone, floated.” 

“Buildings?” Goofy questioned, and although he seemed to want to keep talking he was interrupted. 

“Graves were moved?! And that didn't scare you?!” the mummy duck exclaimed, shaking slightly. 

That question only managed to tear a giggle from the doll before shaking her head. Right- Halloween Town was a place that should be scary, scare everyone outside the town. Surely the only thing that would scare its inhabitants was a pink unicorn. And maybe not even that. 

“Whatever it was, it has stopped happening so we can continue with our work. Which means we must plan the. Best. Halloween. EVER!” A maniacal laugh escaped from the pumpkin king's lips, shaking his shoulders for greater emphasis. Suddenly, however, he stopped and dropped his arms on each side of his bony body. “And see if Sora is around here in the process.” 

“And Riku” added Mickey. 

“Yes, yes. Whatever. I need to talk to Dr Finkelstein about some stuff” Jack paused his words as he turned around, addressing Sally before leaving. “I leave our guests in your hands.” 

Mickey let out a sigh full of frustration after watching the proclaimed Pumpkin King leaving. They were just like at the beginning; they still didn't know anything about the whereabouts of the key bearers. While Goofy indifferently scratched his head, the duck crossed his arms. 

“So... They are neither in Neverland nor in Halloween Town. It's as if something had swallowed them! Do you think it could be Monstruo again?” Goofy thought out loud. 

“Don't even think about that, Goofy!” Donald exclaimed, shaking his fist. 

Mickey felt his body tense as he listened to Goofy, guilt eating him. The only thing that prevented the king's sanity from breaking was knowing that the two young men - master and bearer of the keyblade - were more than capable of taking care of each other. However, that did not prevent the knot in his stomach from growing. And the mouse knew that this feeling would not disappear until the two young men were safe again in their world. With a smile between his lips, the mouse said goodbye to the doll, but not before thanking her for her help. Knowing the boys, if they had landed in that world the first thing they would have done was to look for Sora's friends, and, if said friends hadn't seen them anywhere, they were definitely not there. 

Back in the gummi ship the king's mind returned to the words Goofy had mentioned earlier. What would happen if, indeed, something had swallowed the two boys? It wasn’t a crazy idea, after all. But, if that was what had happened, the mouse knew there was no way to know where the other two had appeared. 

“Woah, cool! _Ansem_ , what an aim you have!” the prince exclaimed as he ran to where the apple with a crossed arrow had landed. 

The silver-haired hylian was standing several meters away from the tree. In his hands he held the bow he had just used, and his mask hid a cooly smile. He himself was proud of his own battle skills, and aim, but hearing it from someone else's mouth only enlarged his ego. On his shoulder was Riku, the silver-haired fairy, who simply watched the scene with a smile between his lips. Sora, the fairy, flew lively after the prince, dropping his weight on the prince’s head once he reached him. Both Sora watched the apple with the arrow while the prince lifted it from the ground, holding it with both hands. From the lips of the tan hylian a laugh escaped before running towards _Ansem_ ; his sky-colored eyes showed nothing but happiness and his smile was wide from ear to ear. He was like a little boy who lived in a bubble of unicorns and rainbows, as if his visions and nightmares had never existed. He had decided to pretend that those visions were nothing more than nightmares and that, as such, there was nothing to worry about. It could be a simple trick of his exhausted mind since, in a very short time, he had lost everything. His soul was breaking. It was only a matter of time for him to lose control of his emotions and break into tears. But he had to be strong. For his parents. For that task that his father had given him before being swallowed by those creatures of darkness. 

The rest of the way to the village was uneventful; the group entertained themselves by talking to each other, enjoying the landscape or, in the case of both Sora, napping - the prince lying on the knight and, the fairy, entangled among the brown spikes. Unfortunately, when they reached the village the night had already fallen. Kakariko was a small but pleasant village. Everyone knew each other and, when there was a new face, everyone tried to make the newcomer or tourist feel at home. However, that was not the case for everyone who was on the horse. 

A group of elders was chatting outside the village. Everything seemed normal until the sound of a horse reached their ears. The group turned to see who had ventured to the village and their faces lit up when they recognized the rider, raising their hands to greet him. A gesture that the knight simply responded with his head. The prince, with both fairies on his head now, leaned sideways enough to see the group of people intending to greet them kindly. However, at the moment when the group recognized the young prince their faces paled, they cordially revered the tanned boy and left as fast as their old bodies allowed them. The prince raised an eyebrow, confused by that reaction. 

Upon entering the village, on the left, there was a single house that rested practically on the river, supported by pillars that kept it at a prudent height. Because of this, some stairs had to be used to get to the house. Two guards guarded the stairs, and didn’t seem to have any regrets when rejecting anyone. On the right, was the rest of the village. There were very few small houses and only a couple of businesses. It seemed that each house had its own garden and a well rested near the center of the village, which meant that they had at least enough to survive day by day. A detail that caught the prince's attention is that all the buildings were made of wood; A small fire to cook anything could become the end of that village. 

The horse stopped in front of the stairs leading to the lonely house. The guards quickly refused access to the interior, but that did not stop the knight. 

“Young lady!” _Ansem_ called when he saw that, from one of the windows on the second floor, there was light. He waited a few seconds for an answer and, seeing that all he received were growls from the guards, he was encouraged to exclaim. “ _WHITE CODE!_ ” 

He did not receive a verbal response to that shout, but he could see a silhouette move quickly inside the lighted room. The fairies beat their wings when they saw that the knight got off the horse, being careful not to throw his partner. For a few moments he waited for the prince to lower himself, but, seeing that he had some problems to do so, he extended his hands to support them on each side of the prince’s waist. The hylian with brown hair felt his cheeks burn at that moment, thanking the village's orange tint due to the many torches that lit it hid the blush that now adorned his face. With the help of the young silverette man, the prince managed to get off the animal just in time, because the door swung open, scaring the four who quickly turned. 

“ _Ansem_?!” A young woman was at the other end of the stairs, her hands resting on her chest. From his position, he could only recognize his blond hair color and oriental style clothes. “Please, come in.” 

_Ansem_ snorted and gave the guards a murderous look before leading the prince and the fairies to the stairs, but not before taking their sacks from the horse. It took some time to the tan hylian to enter the house, in fact, for some reason, it took several seconds to do so even after both the knight and the fairies disappeared on the other side of the door. He didn't know how to describe that sensation, but he felt his inside stir nervously. The person who lived in that house was his next goal in that adventure to which he had been forced; a part of him did not want to know what his next destiny held for him. After long seconds he finally armed himself with courage to enter; was welcomed by a practically empty room. There was only one table on one side of the room and, on it, several cushions rested. _Ansem_ took two of the cushions and approached him, offering him one. He didn't understand why, or what he should do with it, until he looked at the other side of the room and found the young woman kneeling on one. 

Oh. 

The fact that the room was practically empty wasn’t what called the prince’s attention, but it was the hundreds of papers scattered on the floor and stairs, some even hanging on the walls. Each and every one of them looked like drawings, all showing different scenes and even styles, as if they had been drawn by different people. 

“So... White code, hm?” The young blonde spoke. The only response from the silverette hylian was a nod. Her gray-blue eyes landed on Sora, the prince, before smiling at him. “Welcome to my humble home, majesty.” 

The prince tried to imitate the young woman at the time of sitting down; At first he knelt and dropped his weight on his legs, but it seemed an awkward position and seeing that _Ansem_ simply sat with the legs crossed he imitated him. 

“I must admit that I am surprised by two fairies following you. I thought they were shy creatures... But, at least these, they do not seem so” continued the young woman who was unknown for the prince. 

“These are not in the least! This is Sora” his words paused as he gestured to the blue fairy to settle on the palm of his hand and, once his miniature version complied with his request, he approached the hand to the blonde’s face so that she could contemplate more closely. “It's a miniature version of me! And this one here is Riku” He continued speaking, this time pointing to the silver-haired fairy who now rested on _Ansem_ 's shoulder. 

“A... miniature version of you?” the blonde questioned, tilting her head in confusion. For her, both fairies were fluffy balls with wings. Each one of different color, but fluffy balls, after all. 

“The issue that concerns us right now” _Ansem_ cut, remembering the conversation he had with Mickey about that. 

“True, my apologies.” The blonde cleared her throat before continuing. “My name is Naminé, and I work for the royal family since I can remember. Now, before continuing, how old do you think I am, majesty?” 

“Sora, please. My friends don't need to use formalities with me, and everyone who wants to help me is my friend!" exclaimed the prince with a smile. "About your question... 15? 16?” 

“My body is 15 years old. However, my heart and mind are over 1000 years old.” 

“Excuse me?!” exclaimed the fairy duo and the prince at the same time, causing a laugh from the blonde. 

“About a thousand years ago I was cursed, and with that curse I received a power difficult to explain. It's a long story that I can summarize at another time, but I think another topic is more important now.” 

The silverette hylian nodded. He already knew the story. In fact, he knew both stories. 

“My curse is... I must remember absolutely everything. Some see it as a gift, a power they wish they had. I, on the other hand, only see it as a curse. My power is, ironically, to manipulate anyone's memories. Except my own.” 

The confusion was obvious both in the prince's face and the fairies. Although those last not so obvious to Naminé. 

“I know it is a confusing topic and I will try to explain it as best I can. I remember that when I explained it to _Ansem_ for the first time I had to explain it several times, and it still took time to understand it" she informed with a laugh. The silverette hylian wrinkled his nose and turned his face to the opposite side of the others, as in an attempt to hide that, at that moment, he was not very proud of that precisely. 

“Using examples," Naminé moved one of her hands, making a small sphere of light appear in front of her “when you have entered and you have seen me for the first time your mind has created a memory. When I have introduced myself, your mind has created another memory connected to the first one.” That said a second sphere of light appeared connected to the first by a fine golden thread. Before speaking again, a third sphere appeared connected to the second in the same way. “The information of my curse and power has created another memory. This explanation is creating another, and then another will be created, and another, and so on creating a chain of memories.” 

Before her was now a small chain of spheres of light connected by a golden thread. Her gray-blue eyes roamed each sphere, watching them with a thin smile between lips. 

“What would happen if someone had the power to snatch that first memory?” Naminé questioned, taking the first sphere between her hands. In doing so, the rest of the spheres lost their light, becoming pure darkness. 

“I'm still trying to process all this" the prince whispered. He didn't want to be rude, but without a doubt all that was difficult to process. He stared at the black spheres, taking a few seconds before speaking. “That... do they turn black?” 

“Almost. They go out, lose their light and strength. When the first of all is taken from a chain of memories, our mind is incapable of remembering the others. We do not forget them, since they are still there in our mind. We are simply unable to see them. And that is my power. To manipulate those chains.” 

“Oookay... Suppose I believe you” The prince began to speak, frowning slightly. “What does that have to do with what has happened in the castle or what I am supposed to do?” 

Perhaps the tone of voice he had used was ruder than he had intended, but it was almost impossible to believe what she had just said. Of course, it was also impossible for black monsters to appear out of nowhere. He wanted to apologize, but Naminé kept her smile as if she understood that it was not easy to believe her. 

“You were 8 years old when your father ordered me to do just this with you. He ordered me to eliminate all memories related to that chain...” 

“What?! Why would my father do something like that?!” 

“Because he thought Riku was going to be your death.” 

The prince's body tensed noticeably upon hearing that. 

Riku. 

That was the name his mind had given the silverette boy. The child he thought he killed, but for some reason he didn't think he knew. His blue eyes widened as the pieces gradually fit. So that's why despite not knowing the boy, he thought he knew his name. That's why, in his delirium, the boy reproached him for not remembering what he had done. That’s why, when he took the princess's heart between his hands for the first time, he felt as if an old hole reappeared in his being. 

“Riku...” the prince whispered, pointing to the little silver fairy. Once the blonde denied with her head, the tan hylian frowned. “It's the boy I killed, right?!” 

At that moment it was _Ansem_ 's turn to tense. He, the true Riku of that world, did not understand why Sora suddenly believed that he had killed him. In fact, he wondered how his mind had managed to remind him after all. 

“What?” Naminé blinked confused, but quickly shook her head again in denial. “No, Sora. Riku is alive.” 

“What...? Even so, what does that have to do with-” 

“ _Ansem_ cannot accompany you on your adventure. He is not the true owner of Dark Knight, Riku is” Naminé's blue-gray eyes were fixed on the silver-haired hylian, as if those words were not addressed to the prince but to him. “You must recover that memory that was taken from you and more than one of your questions will be answered.” 

“B-But you said my father ordered you to eliminate it!” 

“True, but I don't always do what I am told.” The blonde let out a giggle. 

“Can you give me that memory back then?!” 

“I hid that memory. I knew that if the king discovered that I still had it with me, he would force me to eliminate it, so I hid it in the best place I could. Where I knew it would be well taken care of and protected.” 

“And, where’s that?” the tan fairy questioned, feeling the impatience breaking through her body. 

“Riku’s heart.” 

The pale fairy looked up in an attempt to look at his other self, tilting his head waiting for a reaction that never came. On the other hand, the tan fairy watched the pale hylian with an expression between expectant, relief and discomfort; He still didn't understand why he, the Riku of that world, didn't want to give away his true identity to the prince. Naminé and the prince's gaze were fixed on each other, both reflecting curiosity. Different reasons, but curiosity, after all. 

“He knows?" the prince finally questioned after long seconds of awkward silence. The young blonde simply nodded. "Why would he accept to keep the memory of someone who... has forgotten him?” 

The curiosity that ate the brunette hylian gave way to guilt. He didn't know why, it wasn't his fault after all. But he couldn't help it, he couldn't just not feel guilty for forgetting someone. 

“It was he who offered to take care of your memory. He was your best friend and, from what he told me, he had made you a promise that he wanted to keep.” 

“My best friend...” whispered the prince. 

The tan fairy flapped his wings until he was in front of his reflection face, smiling. His lips parted as if he was going to say something, but every word was drowned in his throat as he realized the treacherous tears that escaped the prince's eyes. The younger Hylian's body began to shake a few seconds before his owner broke into a thousand pieces. He had completely forgotten his best friend at the order of his own father. A father who had been devoured by darkness. A father, and a mother, who would no longer be by his side. 

Sora, the prince, tried to fight against those emotions, push them to the side of his mind and wait for them to simply disappear. He didn't have time to be weak, he had a world to save, whether he wanted to or not. However, the heat of a pair of strong arms around him and how those were attracting him were enough incentive to lose the battle against his emotions, at the same time that his head touched the other’s chest. _Ansem_ had attracted him in a hug when he realized the prince's state of mind. He couldn't do much to help, much less when cries ripped from the lips of the younger body and his hands clung to the fabric of his shirr as if his life depended on it. He could only give the prince physical comfort, and it was not something that he did precisely well. The knight carefully leaned back until he was leaning against the wall, drawing the other's body with him. 

“It’s okay, Sora. Here you are safe" the knight whispered. 

The answer from the prince was to cry with more despair, clinging with more force to the older. The fairy duo silently watched the scene in front of them, both feeling sorry for being unable to do anything for the brunet hylian. Neither of them understood very well what had happened before they arrived, so they could not provide any kind of comfort that was not physical. And that, due to their tiny size, was not going to help much. Therefore, both decided to settle near the hylian duo and wait for the prince to vent everything he needed. 

It had been a few minutes and the prince felt he could not stop the tears. He had lost everything that really mattered to him and the only goal he had left in life was, possibly, to sacrifice his own life to protect those who lived indifferent to the prince's situation. But, before that, he had to look into the eyes of that supposed best childhood friend and remind him that, someone who had been important to him, had simply forgotten him. His fingers sank more tightly into the shirt, not caring that his nails began to tear the skin of the knight who was still holding him in his arms. Ignoring completely how his tears had soaked that piece of clothing. The only thing that seemed to keep him sane in his thoughts was the heat emanating from that body that surrounded him, the protection it provided unconsciously. The aroma it gave off, so familiar but so unknown at the same time. His body ached from having been tense for a long time, his neck burned and his eyes stung from the many tears shed. If he were able to keep his eyelids open for just a second, he was sure that the blue sky of his orbs would be accompanied by a bright red. But neither the pain nor the hand that slowly caressed his back seemed to give him the strength to stop his crying. Only when all energy left his body did he find the peace he needed, falling asleep in sobs. 

The silence around him was welcoming and the heat of the morning sun's rays that filtered through the windows only invited him to continue sleeping. Not even the light hitting him in the eyes seemed to bother him at that moment. 

“-ra. Sooooooora~” A childish voice broke the silence. “C’mon, Sora! Wake up!” 

The prince simply growled lazily, covering his head with the blanket that, for some reason, had been covering him. 

“Let's play!” The voice insisted. 

At that moment a pair of small hands landed on his shoulder and, with some pressure, they shook the prince's sleepy body until he blinked repeatedly, getting used to the morning light. 

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” 

Blue met aquamarine. The brunet hylian sat down suddenly when he recognized those eyes. Or, rather, that little body. In front of him was the same boy of his visions and nightmares, but on that occasion, he wore dark blue bomber pants and a white sleeveless sweater, his long silver hair was styled in a bun and, the most curious thing, there was no visible wound. His eyes didn’t give off anger and resentment, but seemed full of life, curiosity and joy typical of a child his age. His lips opened and closed again, as if he had wanted to say something, but he had quickly regret. 

“I have seen a tree out there tall enough to see the whole village. Let's climb it together, Sora!” The little boy smiled, jumping up. 

“E-eh...? Are you alive?” questioned the prince confused. 

Was that again a cruel vision of his mind? Had the pieces joined the night before made the injured child disappear? Or, perhaps, was that the real boy and his visions were not hallucinations but premonitions? No. Definitely, that last one was not. 

“You say weird things...” replied the little silverette boy laughing. “Obviously I'm alive, silly!” 

As soon as the prince got to his feet, the little boy took his hand, smiling broadly. 

Something was not right. Even if his mind, for some reason, shouted that the name of that child was Riku, he didn't know him at all. Even so, the prince felt that such a childish smile did not fit at all. The little boy held his hand with more force to guide him out of the house, but just as he reached the stairs the elder stopped. 

“Where are _Ansem_ and the fairies?” he questioned, looking over his shoulder inside the house. 

The room he had woken up was empty except for the blanket. There was no sign of _Ansem_ or the fairy duo. Not even one of the hundreds of drawings that had been decorating the room the night before. 

“What are you talking about, Sora? See? You only see weird things!” The little one pouted, drawing the older's attention. “I don’t know anyone called _Ansem_ , and... I guess the fairies are in the forest.” 

The little silver-haired boy pulled his hand again, dragging him to the tree he had mentioned. Sora simply let himself be guided, although he couldn't help looking back from time to time. When he looked back for the last time after reaching the tree, the prince noticed how the grip on his hand tightened with such force that it hurt him. Letting out a complaint between his lips, his gaze fell on the boy, questioning him. 

“Sora...” 

“Y-you are hurting me!” the brunet exclaimed, trying to let go. 

“Sora...” 

“Let go!” 

“Let's go up!” 

Finally, the prince was released from that strong grip at the moment when the little boy decided to start climbing the tree. His body was agile, although his short limbs made it difficult for him to reach certain branches. Upon reaching a decent height the child sat comfortably, tilting his head sideways with curiosity when he realized that the prince had made no move. 

“Why don't you come up, Sora?” 

“I- I don't feel like it.” 

“But if you don't come up, I won't be able to _fucking_ push you” the words, however gloomy its meaning was, had left the child's lips innocently. 

The brunet's eyes widened. Push him? From where? 

“C’mon! I want to see you beg while you fall...” 

Pale lips twisted in a macabre gesture. Every innocence the little boy could possess had completely disappeared after that statement. The young chestnut stepped back, but before he could react and get out of there running, a pair of strong hands wrapped around his neck, pressing hard. His blue orbs landed on the owner of those hands; He was no longer a small child. In front of him was a young man with silver hair and a trained body, but for some reason it was impossible to see his face, since his long bangs covered much of it. 

“You are useless, Sora. You couldn't protect your parents, you couldn’t save the people who were devoured by darkness. You couldn't defend yourself, forcing those guards to sacrifice their hearts to save you... What makes you think you can protect those who are still alive?” there was a small pause “Not to mention that you believe everything they tell you. Since your childhood you have been failing everyone around you... Riku? You killed him. You ordered that memory be taken away from you.” the silverette whispered, bending down to caress the prince's ear with his lips. “But if you give me your heart I will make you strong and you will be capable of anything, and who knows, maybe you can bring your precious friend back to life...” 

At that moment everything around him was consumed by darkness, even the young man released him from the neck to disappear as well. The prince shouted when feeling his body fall into the void, it didn’t matter how much he extended his hand and shouted for help, there was nothing to hold on to, no one who could listen to him. What did that guy mean by giving his heart? If he did, could he really be strong enough to protect the people who were alive? To prevent his world from being devoured by darkness? Of carrying out that task that he still did not understand? 

A sacrifice to save the rest of people... A fair price to pay. 

“I want to be stro-" The prince's voice was suddenly interrupted. 

_Don't listen to him, Sora!_

“What? But I want to protect my people!” 

_And only you have the power to do it. Tell me, what are you so afraid of?_

“What... scares me... Being alone.” 

_What do you want outta life?_

“I don’t know...” 

_What’s most important to you; being number one, friendship or your prize possessions?_

“Friendship, of course! But...” 

_The light inside you is the only one that can protect what you want most. Do not listen to those who try to take it away._

“Who are you...?” 

_So many questions..._

_So much to do..._

_So little time..._

_You have the key._

“I...” 

Meanwhile, moments before that dream, _Ansem_ was hugging the prince's sleeping body with one hand while holding a golden sphere with the other. Both fairies were sleeping curled up on one side. The sphere shone brightly, and anyone who observed it could distinguish how a series of images were repeated over and over again. The images showed a silver-haired boy trying to get up from the ground, wounded, while another with brown and spiky hair offered his hand to help him. 

The first memory of all. The memory that had been taken from the prince. 

“When are you going to tell him the truth?” Naminé's voice was present in the room, being almost a whisper so as not to alarm the people awake. 

“Which truth?” _Ansem_ questioned without looking away from the sphere. 

“Who you really are. You know he didn't forget you of his own choice... And that he can remind you again if you give him that memory.” 

Aquamarine eyes watched the young blonde, mere seconds before looking back at the sphere. Why? Why did he continue with that lie? The perfect time had come to tell the prince the truth, but for some reason his heart was shrinking at the thought of admitting his true identity. At that moment his eyes traveled to the fairies; Every time I saw them he was jealous. Those two had grown up together, they were still best friends and even seemed to have a common mission. Every time he saw them laughing together, chatting, or even the way in which the brunet fairy snuggled against the other when he seemed to have a nightmare... The knight kept silent while watching them, until he realized that his tiny counterpart was watching him too. His lips opened with the intention to saying something, but something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. 

The princess's heart gave off a black aura. 

“That shouldn't be happening...” Naminé whispered, who was also watching the sword. 

“Why does that happen?” The silver-haired fairy questioned when he realized what the other two were looking at. 

“The princess's heart is connected to the heart of its bearer” _Ansem_ replied, frowning. 

“It should only give off darkness if the wearer's heart has been...” Naminé started, but was soon interrupted by the silverette hylian. 

“Not yet.” 

The pale fairy noticed that something in his counterpart looked different, but he didn't know how to distinguish what was that. The knight, without saying a word, let the sphere sink into his chest before resting his hand on the prince's forehead and closed his eyes; just a few seconds later, his strong breathing indicated that he had fallen asleep. 

When he opened his eyes again, the pale hylian was in a dark place. His body floated in the dark as if it were water, with the difference that he could breathe without any problem. It wasn’t the first time he entered the prince's dreams, but it was the first time he appeared in a place as cold as that. His eyes watched around him, floating until he could see another body in the distance; lying with his feet and arms down, and if not for his open eyes he seemed to even be lifeless. 

_So many questions..._

_So much to do..._

_So little time..._

_You have the key._

“I...” 

“Sora!” the knight called, floating as fast as he could to the brunet. 

“Who's there?” questioned the prince almost lifeless, even dropping his head. 

“Sora, listen to me!” the knight pleaded, extending his hand when he noticed how something invisible prevented him from approaching the younger. “Do not let the darkness of your heart dominate y-!” 

The knight's voice was suddenly interrupted when its owner was able to see how the shape of a small silver-haired boy appeared on Sora. 

“If I accept, I can save everyone... I can restore his life...” the prince murmured as he sat in the air, hugging the child. 

From his position, the knight could see that the brunet's eyes lacked any light. There wasn't much time until darkness devoured Sora's innocent heart. 

“If you accept, you will kill them all!” 

“You lie! You do nothing but lie to me! You and your friends only tell lies and confusing things! I will never find that memory because Riku is dead!” exclaimed the prince, hugging little Riku more. 

“ _I’m alive_ , Sora, for fucks sake!” 

Impotence and impatience spoke and acted for him. He wasn't going to let the darkness play with Sora's mind and heart at that moment; hurt by the loss of his loved ones and confused by that unknown mision they made him a perfect target. Without thinking twice, seeing that the invisible barrier still prevented him from moving forward, he let the golden sphere appear in front of his chest, holding it with both hands. Sora watched that light with curiosity and released the little one, but the kid clung to him as if trying to prevent him from moving forward. 

“Don't listen to him, Sora! If you stay with me, you'll be strong enough to give me back the life you took away from me” the little boy finally spoke, pretending to be on the verge of crying. 

“If you stay with him, you will get the opposite of what you want to do.” The knight said, looking the sphere. 

“B-but...” 

_So little time..._

“I have the key...” 

A small light appeared on the prince's chest, forcing the little one to release him with a cry of pain. Right where the light had burned him, a small wound had been left but instead of spilling blood, it gave off darkness. The prince's blue eyes regained their color and life just at the moment when that barrier that prevented the knight from advancing disappeared. The words were not necessary, _Ansem_ simply extended his arms offering the little sphere to the prince; Its true owner. 

Sora wanted to ask what that was, but for some reason his heart knew the answer. He did not hesitate to approach, but to take the sphere in his hands. 

“I’m sorry...” the knight said, looking away to the side. 

“Anse-” his lips wanted to call the knight, but a blinding light interrupted him. 

At the moment when his hand finally made contact with that bright sphere, a light seized the place, devouring every corner of darkness in its path. The prince felt that it was impossible for him to open his eyes, even through his eyelids he could feel the burning of that strong light. However, as the heat was disappearing some voices were present in the place. His eyelids opened, letting him see between his long eyelashes a scene he thought was unknown. 

_A tall man, platinum blonde hair and muscular body entered the throne room accompanied by a small boy with silver hair, torn clothes and bandages that covered much of his tiny body. The king, who was standing with his back to the door, turned to see the newcomers._

_“He has not uttered a word, majesty” the blond man spoke first, watching as the little one kept his head down._

_“It's been a week since he arrived, couldn't you change his clothes?” the king questioned._

_“I tried, but every time I get close he gets too ... aggressive” the man responded quickly._

_The king, after a long and tired sigh, approached the boy, keeping a few steps away to avoid alarming the child. He leaned down with both hands on his knees and waited a few seconds before speaking, as if waiting for the child to look up or something._

_“Does he eat at least?” Although his gaze was still on the boy, his question was for the other man in the room._

_“Yes, maje-”_

_“Father, father!” A child's voice broke into the room, alarming everyone present. “Look what I’ve do-”_

_How sudden this had been alarmed the little silverette, who ran away without even looking where he was going. A guard there, when he saw that the boy was running towards him, stepped aside to avoid him, but it was a movement so fast and sudden that, without realizing it, he ended up knocking one of the statues of angels. Fortunately, it fell to the ground without hurting anyone in the process, but the little silverette ended up stumbling over one of the pieces of the statue and falling flat on the ground, letting out a groan from between his lips._

_“Woah! Are you okay?!” exclaimed the little prince, running towards the other boy. The adults had made the gesture of going for the wounded child, but stopped when they saw that the prince was already offering him a hand. “What’s your name? I’m Sora! And- and- and- you're bleeding!”_

_When the little silverette fell, he had hit his head, nothing serious or important, but one of his old wounds had opened and now he was bleeding. For the first time since he had arrived at the castle, aquamarine eyes showed some kind of emotion that was not panic when they landed on the hand that the prince offered him._

_“Ri-… ku...”_

_“Riku? That’s your name?” the prince questioned, and upon receiving an affirmation with his head from the silverette he smiled broadly. A smile that lasted a few seconds. “Riku! You’re bleeding!”_

“Riku...” the prince whispered when the images in front of him became blurred. 

“You didn’t stop screaming until someone took care of my wound...” a nearby voice spoke, but the light was so strong that he was forced to close its eyes tightly. 

_“You shouldn’t be here, Sora!” the young silverette exclaimed with laughter._

_“Booooh, boooooh, booooh... Father doesn't have to find out if you don't tell him.”_

_“You know he will ask me if you appear again without another tooth.”_

_Riku was feeding the horses when the prince, without warning, had appeared right next to him. Sora was forbidden to leave the walls that formed the castle, he was not even allowed to be among the walls that protected his home without a guard by his side. However, like every adventurous child, he had found a way to escape and meet his friend, who had heard that he would be trained to be one of the future guards of the prince and future king. That had already become a custom; escape, play with his friend for a while and return to his rooms before anyone notices his absence. That, obviously, if there was no surprise like the day before that, when he tripped and fell to the ground, lost a tooth._

When he opened his eyes again, in front of him was the same _Ansem_ he had met a few days ago. The knight watched him in silence, still covering part of his face with the mask. Blue met aquamarine and then, only then, did he notice it. The memory that had been taken from him was in Riku's heart. He had just seen part of his memories related to his best childhood friend. There was only one person present. Tears threatened to escape from between his eyelids, but before he could say or do something the light again blinded him. 

_Little Sora was on a chair that threatened to break at any moment by not supporting his weight, but the creaking of the wood alerting the little one didn’t seem to matter to the brunet. He had something in mind and wasn't going to stop until he got it, and picking up one of the books on a high shelf was his goal. Just at the moment when his fingers brushed the thick cover of the book he wanted the chair gave way._

_The prince closed his eyes tightly and from between his lips a scream came out while he waited for the impact on the ground, confused when instead of hitting himself hard against something hard and cold he did it against something soft and rather warm. Gradually his eyes opened until he found in front of him a pair aquamarine orbs and a frown._

_“Riku!” the prince exclaimed with a smile from ear to ear._

_“You should be more careful. What the hell were you doing?!”_

_“I’m sorry... But you have saved me!”_

_“What if I hadn't been close? You could have hurt yourself a lot!”_

_Those words silenced the prince, but far from erasing his smile it widened._

_“Oe, Riku...” The prince began to speak, moving so he could stand on the ground. He just kept talking when he heard a "hm?" by the older. “Will you always be by my side?”_

_“What kind of question is that? Obviously!”_

_“Promise?”_

_“I promise.”_

_“Do you promise that you won't let anything bad happen to me?”_

_“I promise to do it when it's something important. The next time you fall off the chair I will let you hit the ground.”_

_Despite that comment the prince simply laughed._

_Ansem_ was still in front of him when his eyes opened again. For some reason, his lips curled into a radiant smile even though tears slid down his cheeks until they broke in his neck. Little by little, that chain of memories was returning to him, just as Naminé had said. However, he needed to remember why his father ordered her to get rid of all memories of Riku. 

_“Woah... Look how pretty!” The little prince spoke, jumping from side to side._

_His already best friend at that moment seemed just as happy as he did, but only the big smile between his lips gave him away. Unlike the brunet, the silverette knew that they should not be there, that if someone discovered them they would be scolded like never before. But his adventurous and curious spirit prevented him from leaving, in fact, he was driven to move forward. And so he did, followed by Sora, advanced until he ended up in front of two swords stuck in the ground, one white and one black._

_“I wonder what these swords are doing here...” the silverette whispered, studying both weapons._

_“Maybe they were too heavy for their owners.”_

_“Maybe. Or maybe there is one another reason more... danger- Sora, don't touch it!” exclaimed the silverette once realizing how his best friend extended his hand and, without thinking twice, touched the white sword._

_The sword suddenly emanated a light so strong that it momentarily blinded both children,besides alerting adults what was their position. They had gone to the great forest because the king needed to talk to the big tree, and they had let the children play around. What no adult had ever suspected is that the children would have ended up in the only prohibited area._

_When he opened his eyes, Riku discovered that the sword was no longer stuck in the ground, and that Sora was lying with his breathing agitated._

_“Sora, are you okay?!”_

_“What happened here?!” The king's voice was present in the place. “You weren't supposed to come here!”_

_“I-I’m sorry, majesty! I didn’t intend to touch it!”_

_The king rushed to kneel beside his son, who simply seemed exhausted._

_“Was it you, Riku? Have you touched that sword?” the king questioned doubtfully._

_He didn't know why, but Riku simply nodded. Sora, although awake, had enough with his current state to also be scolded._

_“N-no! He didn’t-” the prince was quick to correct, but Riku kept his decision._

_“Please, Sora. I have touched the sword, so the punishment must be mine.”_

On that occasion, when his eyes opened for the last time he did not find _Ansem_ , but the fairy duo looking at him with concern, Naminé behind them. The prince's eyes studied around him, confused and exhausted both physically and mentally. Was he back in Kakariko? When he laid his eyes on both swords, he realized that both emanated their respective black and white auras, as they had done when _Ansem_ held them. 

“Welcome back!” Sora, the fairy, pounced on his face in a vague attempt to hug him. 

“Are you okay?” questioned the silverette fairy when his best friend returned to his side. 

The prince simply nodded and sat up slowly. He was still leaning against _Ansem_ 's body, as he had been doing before falling asleep. Biting his lower lip to hide a silly smile, he shook the pale hylian slightly, wanting to wake him up. However, no matter how many times the prince shook him, the knight did not open his eyes. 

“Ans- Riku?!”


End file.
